Ashes to Ashes
by Raven55
Summary: 6th year starts and all is well for Hermione and Harry. But Voldemort's best servant has returned to Hogwarts, wanting to finish what he had been sent for in the fist place. Trouble awaits them, even though they don't know it yet.
1. The Sorting Hat's Song

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

**Authoress' note:** I want to dedicate this entire story to the biggest Harry Potter fan I know. She's worse than me! Luli, I hope you like this story!

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**Chapter one: The Sorting Hat's song **

Slowly the Hogwarts Express rolled into platform 9 ¾. Hermione stood next to Harry and Ron with Crookshanks in her arms.

"Happy to start a new year?" Ron asked her.

She smiled. "You bet. I've got a feeling this year is going to be great."

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Neville." They greeted back.

He waved at them and stumbled over his shoelaces.

"Oh no…" Neville muttered as the books in his arms spilled all over the tiles.

Hermione pushed Crookshanks into Ron's arms and quickly helped Neville to pick up his books.

"Thanks."

She smiled. "No problem. Are you going to sit with us?"

"…Yeah! Yeah okay."

He followed her back to Ron and Harry. They were discussing who the new Quidditch captain would be. Neville greeted them again.

"Hey Harry, Ron…Had a nice holiday?"

Harry smiled. "It was great Neville. I got out of the Dursley's house after two weeks and spent the rest of the holiday's at Ron's. We got to see Puddlemere United play the Westminster Weasels."

"Yeah Neville, it was great!" Ron said excitedly.

Neville nodded sadly. "So I've heard. I listened to the radio…Gran did have tickets, but we couldn't go. I heard it was one of the best matches of this season."

Hermione laid her hand on his shoulder. "But you did have a nice holiday?"

He nodded.

The doors of the train opened and parents all over the platform frantically started to kiss their children goodbye. Over the loud talking, mrs. Weasley's voice could be heard.

Ron quickly sank through his knees and boarded the train. Harry grinned, took Hermione's hand and followed Ron on the train.

They found a compartment at the front of the train and installed themselves on the benches. Neville stumbled in moments later, his books clenched in his arms.

"Don't you have a bag to put those in?" Harry asked as he put his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

Neville shook his head and pulled a belt out of his pocket and tied it around the book stack.

"I forgot to pack those, my gran handed them to me just before I met up with you."

He put the package in the overhead storage rack and let himself fall down onto the bench, next to Ron.

He yawned and stretched out. Then he looked at Hermione and Harry.

"Hey…are you two…?"

Harry smiled as Hermione leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah…amazing what the summer holiday can do for you." Harry said with a grin on his face.

Neville looked at them with a thoughtful expression on his face. At that moment the door of their compartment opened again. It was Ginny. She had a thunderous look on her face.

"Stop smirking Ron." She said immediately.

Ron straightened his face.

"I wasn't smirking!" He said, trying to sound hurt. "…Did mum get you?"

She snarled at the idiotic grin on his face. Ginny sat down next to Neville and sighed heavily.

"I wasn't as lucky as you were. You were near the train. Before I could wrestle my way towards it, mum had pulled me into a hug. By the way…"

She dropped something in Ron's lap.

"This is for you."

Ron unwrapped the package and groaned. "I hate corned beef! Couldn't she give me cheese or something?"

Ginny shrugged and unpacked her own lunch.

"What?" Ron said unbelievingly. "You've got cheddar and I've got corned bloody beef?"

"Ron! Watch your language." Hermione said menacingly.

Ron let himself fall back into his seat, muttering something about 'language' and 'cursing'. Hermione sighed but smiled as Harry kissed her cheek.

Neville looked at his watch and got to his feet. "I'm going to see if I can find Seamus. I've got some chocolate frog cards for him. Promised to give him Queen Mab."

"Alright. See you later then." Harry said merrily.

Neville waved and left the compartment, just as the lunch witch tried to knock on the door. The result was Neville getting hit on the nose.

"Oh sorry love. I hope it doesn't bleed…"

"No, no…I'm fine, really…excuse me…" he brushed past her and left the others looking a bit bemused.

"Is there anything on the trolley you want, loves?" the lunch witch asked.

Ron bought a few cauldron cakes and the witch left the compartment again.

"…Did Neville just get hit on the nose?" Ginny asked giggly.

The others nodded vaguely.

"That boy really is a bit of an unlucky type, isn't he."

"Ginny, you shouldn't talk like that. It's not his fault that little accidents like that happen." Hermione said.

Harry looked at her. "Hermione…I know you're right that we shouldn't, but…'little accidents'? Did you see the dungeons after that potion we had to make with volcanic rock?"

"Yeah, it looked like a bombsite" Ron added. "We don't mean to be mean, it's just the truth. He's a nice bloke, but accidents like that just always happen to him."

It was silent for a while. Finally it was Ginny who broke the silence and opted to play a card game. They smiled and Hermione pulled a deck of cards out of her coat pocket and dealt the cards. After a few rounds of poker and another hour of talking, Harry looked at his watch.

"Aren't we there yet?"

Hermione looked out the window. "No…not yet. But half an hour should do it."

"You recognise these fields? You can actually tell how long it's going to be by looking out the window?" Ron asked unbelievingly.

Hermione shrugged. "I just recognised the hills and the little chapel back there. We always pass it, so it's easy to recognise this part."

Harry laughed. "That's Hermione for you…You know, you're probably the only student ever who noticed that."

"Well, that's what you like about me, isn't it." She said with a grin.

He laughed an kissed her.

Suddenly a loud bang outside in the corridor alarmed them. They jumped to their feet and raced to see what had happened.

They found Dean, his wand pointed at the open door of a compartment.

"Dean! What happened?" Ginny squealed.

But before Dean could answer, Harry had seen the inside of the compartment. Neville was inside and looked shaky. Mafloy, Crabbe and Goyle looked dazed.

"I found the three of them cornering Neville in the compartment." Dean said coolly.

Neville climbed out of the compartment.

"T-Thanks Dean…" he stuttered.

"Come on, Neville. Let's get out of here." Said Ron as he took him by his arm.

"Yeah, and as soon as we reach Hogwarts, go to McGonagall and complain before Malfoy beats you to it and complains to Snape." Dean added.

Neville glanced back at the smoking Malfoy and his cronies.

"Come on Neville." Ron urged.

When they reached their own compartment again, they felt the train slow to a crawl.

"We're here!" Hermione said excitedly.

They took their things and stepped out onto the platform where the carriages awaited.

"It's so strange to see them like this, isn't it." Hermione whispered.

The others nodded, except for Dean.

"See them like what?"

Hermione looked at him. "Remember that lesson last year…about thestrals? These carriages are pulled by thestrals and…we can see them. We all saw someone die last year…so…now we can see them…"

Neville shuddered. "They look so…terrifying."

Harry and Hermione stepped on board of a carriage and soon the others followed. It was a bit tight, the six of them cramped together, but it fitted. Especially when Ginny sat on Dean's lap and Hermione on Harry's.

Hermione yawned and leaned against Harry's chest. A new year at Hogwarts was about to begin.

-

"Oh, come on! Let those first years hurry up." Ron said impatiently, rubbing his stomach.

"Ron, it's raining out there, thunder and everything. It's not their fault that crossing the lake is taking a bit longer." Hermione said. "Besides, you had some lunch with you. So why didn't you eat that?"

"I hate corned beef! It makes me want to throw up."

"Ron!" Ginny hissed indignantly. "That's disgusting."

"No, corned beef is disgusting."

The oncoming argument was interrupted when the doors of the Great Hall swung open and McGonagall entered with a load of frightened-looking first years.

"Finally." Ron muttered.

McGonagall walked to the front of the Hall and settled the Sorting Hat on it's stool.

It was silent for a few moments as everyone looked at it expectantly. Then the hat opened it's mouth and began to sing.

"I might just look a piece of junk,  
an old and dirty hat.  
But I'm the one who'll sort you all,  
please remember that.

Now I didn't always have this job,  
for when the Founders were still here,  
they chose the students all themselves.  
According to their own idea.

Hufflepuff, the gentle lass,  
took the workers of the lot.  
While Gryffindor, bold and brave,  
took those who would've valiantly fought.

Slytherin, the shrewder one,  
took those of cunning and brain.  
For no one can be dumb,  
and cunning all the same.

And then there was fair Ravenclaw,  
who chose the wisest of them all.  
But should these Houses fight themselves,  
Hogwarts, then, may fall.

But do not fear each other,  
just be vigilant and alert.  
For he, who once would save you,  
will now alone bring hurt.

Remember these words, heed them well,  
but don't let them get you down.  
For now 'tis time to eat and drink  
and be merry without a frown."

The students applauded as the song had reached it's end. But Hermione looked thoughtful.

"That was rather a dark song…" she said to no one in particular.

"What do you suppose it meant?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I…don't know. But don't you think it meant to say 'fight _among_ themselves' instead of 'fight themselves'? I mean, that would only be logical…wouldn't it? We all seem to keep that hatred for the Slytherins alive…which, by the way, shouldn't be like that. Remember the song last year? It told us to burry the hatchet. But we didn't. And look what happened."

"Hermione, don't be so worried. It's just a song." Ron said.

But Harry shook his head. "You don't think that the hat was warning us, Ron?"

"Nope. Just a song."

It was silent for a while, in the background, people were getting sorted.

"Please let them hurry up…" Ron urged in a pleading voice.

When finally the last student had been sorted into Hufflepuff, Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Another year to make new friends or meet up with old ones. I hope you all will enjoy this year to the fullest and, of course, that you'll pick up a few things during lessons as well."

He winked.

"Mister Filch told me that no items have been added to his infamous list, that can be viewed in his office. The Forbidden Forest is, of course, off limits, hence the name. Well, I think that's enough for now...Dig in!" He finished.

"Amen." Ron muttered.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Every year it was the same.

"Ron?" she said sweetly as she watched him pile up food onto his plate.

"Yes?"

"Don't eat too much. It's unhealthy. And you always end up feeling sick."

He looked at her indignantly, but started laughing. She was right. Every year it was the same.

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	2. Sealing Charms

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

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**Chapter two: Sealing Charms **

"Oh man…I'm tired…" Ron yawned. "That barmy owl kept me up all night."

"Wasn't Pig in the Owlry?" Ginny asked.

"No. The stupid git decided he wanted to kip on my bedpost. But then he couldn't sleep."

Harry looked sleepy as well. "Next time, bring that thing back to the Owlry, okay Ron?"

Hermione giggled. "Well, no rest for the wicked. Here come our timetables."

She took the sheets McGonagall handed her and passed them round the table. A groan went through all of the sixth years.

"Not again…" Neville shuddered.

"I guess we've got double potions again then." Hermione concluded.

"Yeah, and with our favourite group of people too."

She looked up at the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy look at their table with disgust.

'Same here buddy…same here.' She thought.

She grabbed her book bag and swung it over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to be late for Charms. I know we're going to do Sealing charms."

"Sealing charms?" Harry asked curiously.

Neville nodded. "It's a way of sealing certain spells. To make them irreversible."

Ron stared at him.

Hermione smiled broadly. "Neville! That's wonderful! I bet you're going to be great this year!"

Neville went red. "...I...I read about it. That's all."

He hastily grabbed his book bag and left the table. Harry stared at him.

"Is he embarrassed?"

"But why! He knew it, he knew the answer."

"I'll never understand that boy." Ron muttered. "Well, come on. Flitwick already left the Head table."

-

"Good morning class. Today our subject will be Sealing charms. Does anyone know what they are?"

The tiny professor looked over the top of his desk. "Anyone at all?"

Hermione turned around and looked at Neville. He had his face hidden behind his book.

"Neville." She whispered.

But he didn't respond. She turned around and raised her hand.

"Ah, miss Granger."

She answered the question, but kept wanting to glance back at Neville. Why didn't he want to answer the question?

'Maybe he's shy...' she thought.

Harry took her hand under the table and smiled at her.

"Nice one." He whispered.

She smiled and listened to professor Flitwick again.

"...Indeed the Sealing charms are used to make spells irreversible. But we don't use them idly. It might seem fun to give someone a permanent different skin colour, but I can assure you that actions like that will be reprimanded. These Sealing charms are only used to seal complex spells and they take up a lot of energy and strength."

"Sir?" Parvati asked, raising her hand. "Professor, are these sealed spells really irreversible?"

"Not entirely, miss Patil. Although the name does imply it, they do not completely lock the spell. There are several ways to unlock a sealed spell. But that does not fit within my subject. It will probably be covered in your Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Now, please take your wands out and make this sign."

He tapped the chalkboard behind him and a difficult circular sign appeared on it.

"Circle, circle, up and jab." He said.

The class followed the movements of his wand and a soft green sparkle emitted from the tips of their wands. Professor Flitwick applauded.

"Well done! Well done everyone. Now repeat after me. Incantatem Eternus."

"Incantatem Eternus." The class chimed.

"Wonderful." Piped the little professor. "Now remember to put the emphasis right. You all remember what happened last time."

He eyed Neville involuntarily. Neville put his book down and took his wand with a determined look on his face.

Hermione felt sure he'd finally show them what he could do. But instead of a green sparkle, red flames peeked out the tip of his wand and singed the end of Lavender's ponytail. Hermione sighed and quickly stopped the fire with a little water she conjured up.

"Better luck next time, Neville." She said, trying to comfort him.

Obviously her words didn't do what she had hoped, because Neville dropped his wand and hid behind his book again.

"Little accidents?" Harry whispered.

She sighed and looked at him. "...Please don't, Harry. He tries so hard."

"Maybe that's the problem." Ron said. "Maybe he tries _too_ hard."

"Mister Weasley, are you paying attention?"

Ron snapped up. "Yes professor."

"Then show me your try."

Ron took up his wand. Circle, circle, up and jab.

"Incantatem Eternus."

Hermione and Harry smiled as a green sparkle emitted from his wand. Ron turned around and bowed as the class applauded.

-

Ron slumped over his table.

"I'm beat." He groaned. "How can teachers be so cruel...an essay on the first day!"

Hermione looked up from her conversation with Harry. "You shouldn't have taken a bow in front of the entire class. Professor Flitwick would've overlooked the fact that you didn't pay attention, but taking that bow..."

"Yeah Ron. Don't get carried away just because you know one spell." Harry said, but Hermione could see that he was grinning.

"Hermione?" Ron suddenly asked sweetly. "Will you help me with my essay?"

"No." She answered curtly.

"What? Why not!"

"Because it's your essay. And because I don't have time tonight."

Ron looked at her. "Don't have time? But...but?"

Harry stood up and so did Hermione.

"Sorry mate, Hermione is busy tonight." He winked at Ron as he entwined his hand with hers. "I'm taking her on a little night time stroll."

He grinned and Hermione giggled.

"Sorry, Ron."

Ron watched them leave the common room, hand in hand. Before the portrait hole closed behind them, Hermione shouted something.

"Try and find Neville. He needs to do the essay as well!"

Ron grumbled and bent over his parchment again. He sighed. Suddenly the portrait hole opened again. For a minute, Ron thought that Hermione and Harry had returned.

But it was Neville. A smile washed over his face. "Neville! Just who I was looking for."

Neville looked unsure. "M-Me?"

"Sure! You have the same Charms essay, right?"

"Y-Yeah, because of Lavender's hair. Why?"

"You can help me then!"

Neville shuffled his feet. "I…I haven't done it yet. I'm going up to the dormitory."

Ron dropped back into his chair. "Alright…so you can't help me then?"

"Ron, I singed Lavender's hair. I can't even do the spell and you expect me to do well on the theory behind it?"

Neville ran up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind him. Something slipped from his pocket and fell on the bottom step.

Ron bent down and picked it up. A rather pretty, black-haired witch in a purple dress was depicted on the card. He read the back.

"Queen Mab?" he wondered.

He stuffed it in his pocket and returned to his parchment. Next to the couch he noticed Hermione's book bag. He looked at the portrait hole for a second and dove towards the bag.

"…Herbology, no…Transfiguration, no…ah, Charms." Triumphantly he pulled out the Charms textbook.

He flicked through it and sighed contently as he reached the chapter on Sealing charms. If Neville and Hermione wouldn't help him, then this book certainly would.

He scribbled away, now and then checking the book for information. He didn't know how long he had been working, but when he was finally done, it had gone dark outside.

Harry and Hermione came back in, looking a bit flushed. Hermione was even a bit giggly.

"What happened to you two?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow, not sure he really wanted to know.

"Filch nearly caught us. But we dodged him."

"Yeah, we hid behind that statue of Mungo the Mad on the third floor." Harry added with a grin.

Hermione sank onto the couch and sighed contently. "But it was worth it. Never knew the lake was this beautiful."

"But not as beautiful as you." Harry added with a cheeky grin.

"Oh stop it you twat." She retorted giggly. "You are so corny."

"And you love it."

They laughed.

Harry looked at the clock above the fireplace. "Well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

He kissed Hermione and waved to Ron.

"I'll be up in minute." Ron said to him.

Hermione looked over Ron's shoulder at his parchment. "How's your essay coming along?" she asked. "Did you manage alright?"

"Yup. I borrowed your Charms textbook."

"Oh….that's alright. But didn't you ask Neville? I thought he would be able to tell you all you needed to know. I saw him working on it in the library during lunch."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Library? He said he hadn't done it yet. Maybe he wasn't done yet…"

"Neville does come across a bit embarrassed about knowing stuff about Charms." She said thoughtfully. "I guess he just isn't used to it."

"Yeah." Ron said. "The only times he knew anything during class was in Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts in our fourth year."

"I hope he managed with his essay…" Hermione said worriedly. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, see if he'll let me read it and see if I can help him with it."

Ron looked at her with mock-indignation. "What? You'll help Neville but not me, your best friend? I'm hurt."

"Oh Ron, stop it. You can do it yourself. I want Neville to do better than he's used to. I know he can do it. You can do it yourself. I want to help Neville, because he can do so much better if he puts his mind to it."

Ron yawned. "Hermione, I know you love these late night talks about school and stuff. But can we please postpone it till tomorrow? I'm really tired and I just wrote a two scroll long essay."

"Oh. Yes, sorry."

Ron smiled.

"Goodnight Hermione."

"You too, Ron. See you tomorrow."

The clock struck eleven as the doors of the two dormitories closed.

-

"Good morning Neville." Hermione said with a smile.

"Oh, morning, Hermione." He answered back cheerfully.

"Did you get on with the essay? Ron said that you had some problems with it." She said as she took the seat next to him.

He shrugged. "I finished it last night. It wasn't that difficult. But I'm not really that good at Charms. Not really that good at anything."

"Neville, you know that's not true. Just look at everything you achieved at our DA meetings. You learned that all by yourself. You were really good, you know." She said encouragingly.

"But you and Harry helped me with that. I couldn't have done that on my own. You two are really good teachers."

He looked at his plate and began to pile some more scrambled egg onto it. Hermione buttered some toast for herself.

"You know Neville, I'd like to help you with your essay. If you want me to, that is. Can I…read it?"

He looked relieved. "You'd do that? That's great Hermione!"

She smiled. "I'll check them out during lunch."

She bit the corner off her toast when she jumped up.

"Hi Harry! Hi Dean."

Both boys greeted her merrily.

"Where's Ron?"

But before someone could answer, she saw him enter the Hall. His eyes were very sleepy. It was a surprise that he could walk in this state of half-sleep. Ron sat down next to Dean and Harry and grabbed a bowl of porridge.

"Hey Ron, look at this." Harry showed him a handful of Chocolate Frog Cards. "Remember that substitute beater we had last year? He stopped collecting and gave them all to me."

Ron looked at them. There were three cards. Hasse, a soothsayer from the seventeenth century, an ancient Chinese herbologist and sorcerer and a card of Morgana.

"He said those two were really rare. I already have Morgana, but I can use her to trade." Harry was very excited.

Ron looked at the cards again. Suddenly he remembered something.

"Hey Neville…that card of Queen Mab…did you give it to Seamus already?"

"I…err, yes. On the train. That's what I went out of the compartment for. Why?"

Ron let his hand slide into his pocket. "Oh…no reason."

He felt something flat and oblong. He clenched his hand around it. A card.

* * *

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**An: **So… that was my second chapter. I would like to thank **Dark Angel's Blue Fire** for the first review I received for this story and I hope you'll keep reading. I've got a lot of things planned for it, so be prepared for some shocking revelations in the future :)

I hope there are more people out there who are reading this and if there are, then please don't hesitate to review. Good or bad, I'd like to know your opinion, even flames. But only flame me if you're going to explain _what_ it is you don't like, because an ungrounded flame is useless. Anyway, please review and I'll update soon!


	3. The Essay

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter three: The Essay **

"I can't believe this pathetic excuse for a potion you've concocted this time, Longbottom. This is almost the worst work I've seen of you yet."

Snape was towering over Neville's cauldron. Ron, who stood next to Neville, was fervently hoping Snape wouldn't suggest to try it out on him. Harry whispered something in Hermione's ear, but she shook her head.

"I can't, Harry. He's already seen it. Besides, Ron is his partner. So Ron should try and help him out."

Harry looked at the two boys behind him and shook his head.

"They're doomed." He remarked dryly.

All the other Gryffindors seemed so agree with him. They were all clenching the edges of their tables, anticipating Snape's next move. Detention? Docking points? Or just humiliation…

"Fifteen points, Longbottom. And try to pay more attention next time. Because next time we'll feed that brew of yours to one of your classmates. Just to see how it works."

A shudder went through the group. Luckily the bell rang.

"He can't actually do that, you know." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but you can't blame him for lack of effort. You can see he wants to do it, really." Ron said as they made their way to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. They were almost halfway out the dungeons when Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh no! I forgot my book! It's still in the classroom. I'll go get it. Please explain to the professor."

Before Harry and Ron could stop her, she had turned around and was already out of sight. She flew around the corner and raced into the classroom, retrieving her book from her table.

When she was outside the dungeons again, she walked up the stairs feeling relieved. But something caught her ear. Did she hear Malfoy and Neville? She walked around the corner and saw both boys standing across from each other. Malfoy saw her and smirked.

"Seems someone came to save your day. But you won't get off so easily next time, Longbottom." He sneered.

Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket and pointed it at him menacingly.

"Leave Neville alone, Malfoy."

Malfoy smirked and shrugged before turning around and walked away. But before he disappeared around the corner, he couldn't resist to make one last remark.

"By the way, nice potion, Longbottom. I see you match the mental capacity of your parents."

Neville let out a roar and Hermione quickly grabbed his arm. "Don't Neville. It will only get you into trouble. Malfoy is a bastard, I know. And he deserves to get a good kick in the arse for all the things he says. But if you don't let them get to you, then he has no power over you."

He shrugged off her arm but didn't attempt to run after Malfoy again.

"Come on." He said. "We're late for class."

She followed him silently. When they reached the classroom, she knocked on the door.

"Sorry we're late, Professor. I had to retrieve a book from the dungeons. And we had some trouble with Malfoy on the way back."

The professor waved his hand dismissively. "Please sit down, miss Granger, mister Longbottom. Today we are going to talk about curses. Most of them can be blocked or if not, then weakened. Now, who here has ever deflected a curse with a shielding charm."

A few people raised their hands. The professor looked around and nodded.

"Right. Well, that shielding charm does not work against the more serious curses. These can be weakened and sometimes deflected by the spell I am about to teach you. It's not easy and I expect to be covering this subject for at least a few more lessons. Now, wands out please. Turn to face your partner and point your wands at each other."

He waited until the class had settled down again. Hermione turned to Harry. Somehow they couldn't look at each other without smiling.

"Pay attention." She whispered with a smile.

"Quiet please." The professor said. "Now I want the people on the right side to attack their partner with the impediment jinx. The other will try and deflect it by this move."

Lavender raised her hand. "Professor? I thought this spell was used to deflect the more serious curses."

"It is, miss Brown. But I'm quite sure that you won't be able to deflect something serious just yet. For now, you'll probably only be able to weaken the jinx. That is the way to train."

He turned to the class again. "Now, please point your wands…Can everyone do this move? Good. Right side, go ahead."

Harry grinned apologetically. "Sorry I have to hurt you."

"Do you honestly think I can't deflect your jinx?" she said sweetly.

"Impedimentia!"

The green jet that shot from Harry's wand never reached Hermione. She swished her wand and a red beam of light blocked the attack, sending it towards the blackboard. The professor ducked just in time. When he came up again, he was smiling broadly.

"Well done, miss Granger! Twenty points to Gryffindor. I've never seen anyone master this spell this quickly."

Hermione blushed and put her wand down on her desk. She didn't know what to say.

"Now the rest of you, don't get stressed. What you just saw was very special. So if you don't succeed in it, don't worry. It's only normal. Okay, left side, wands out again. Go ahead."

-

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards the Great Hall. The boys sat down and waited for Hermione to sit down too. But she just grabbed a few sandwiches. Harry looked at her.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I promised Neville I'd read his essay. I'll see you two in a bit."

She pecked Harry on his cheek and left the Great Hall, munching her sandwich. She looked for a quiet table in a corner of the library. She liked to sit here, it was quiet and gave her a good view off all the others in the library. She took out Neville's essay and began to read.

It was good. Very good. Apart from a few words and one sentence, she didn't have to change a thing. She started when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Hermione. Is it alright? The essay?"

She nodded as he sat down. "Neville, this essay…it's really good. _Really_ good."

He looked away. "Coincidence." He muttered.

"Nonsense, Neville!" she said angrily. "It is really, really good."

"…I got it from loads of books. I'm not smart. Normally my essays stink. And I stink at the practical stuff."

She looked at the table. It was true, she knew it. Neville always had bad luck with the practical side of classes.

"…But…you did loads of amazing things at the DA."

"We've talked about this before, Hermione. Can you trust me when I say I'm not good at practical stuff? Please?"

She nodded quietly. "Anyway, here's your essay. You can give it to professor Flitwick today."

Neville took the scrolls of parchment and carefully put them in his bag.

"By the way, Hermione. There was something I wanted to ask you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Would you tutor me? In Charms?"

She looked at him. He really wanted her help.

"I- sure…alright…yeah. How about in the evening, in the library?"

Neville beamed. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am."

She smiled. "Listen, lunch is almost over. I'm going back to Harry and Ron. See you in Charms."

She picked up her bag and walked out the library, leaving Neville with his essay in his hands. She walked as quickly as she could.

Harry and Ron were sitting at the Gryffindor table with their backs to her. She tiptoed up behind them and pulled at their hair. Harry spun around and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey."

"I thought you were at the library with Neville." Ron said as he took another bite of his sandwich.

"I was. But his essay was really good, so I was done in no time at all. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with you guys."

Ron smiled cheekily.

"Don't you mean just _him_?" he said, pointing at Harry. "I'll leave you two to it then."

"Ron!" Hermione said indignantly.

But Ron was already half-way across the Hall. Hermione sighed.

"He'll never grow up, will he?"

Harry shook his head. "Come on. Let's go to class."

He took her hand and together they left the Hall. Suddenly they noticed that the people had started to whisper and look at them. Someone even whistled.

"Hey Potter!"

"Have you seen Granger and Potter?"

"Oh my god! Lavender! Did you see-"

"Parvati! Shh! That's so rude!"

Harry and Hermione slowly turned around. Almost everyone in the Hall was staring at them, trying to poke their neighbour into staring as well.

"…Harry…? Does this scare you too?" She muttered under her breath.

"Hey Potter! Give her a kiss!" Someone shouted.

Hermione vaguely recognised him as a Ravenclaw fifth-year.

Harry whispered something in her ear.

"…What?"

"I said, 'may I?'"

He was winking and had a little sparkle in his eyes. Exactly the same sparkle she had fallen in love with. She smiled. And he kissed her.

She giggled and laughed when Harry took her hand and they ran out the Hall, accompanied by loud whooping sounds.

"You are terrible, you know that?" she said as she playfully hit his arm.

He grinned. "I know. But they were asking for it. And I don't mean literally."

"Sure, whatever you say. Let's just go to Charms. The bell's about to ring."

She bent down and took up her book bag. When she stood up again, she found herself staring into the face of a goofy grinning Harry.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing….just this." He put his hand in her neck and pulled her in for another kiss.

"Break it up you two. Time for Charms."

"Weasley, I'm getting you for that one!" Harry shouted cheerfully.

He turned to Hermione. "Sorry love, won't be a minute." Then he winked and began to chase after Ron.

Hermione laughed and followed them. She was joined by Lavender when she was halfway. Lavender linked her arm in Hermione's.

"You have some explaining to do, young lady." She said in a mock-serious voice.

Hermione smiled. "There's no real explaining to do, Lavender. Harry's my boyfriend. That's it."

"But when! Where! How!"

Now Hermione laughed. "This holiday. I stayed at Ron's and so did Harry. That's when where and how."

Lavender pouted. "You didn't tell me how…but I'll be quiet for now."

They reached the Charms classroom soon after that and they waited for professor Flitwick to arrive. Ron placed his arm on Lavender's shoulder.

"Tried to wriggle it out of her? I tried that with Harry. No luck tough."

"But it happened at your house! You should know all about it."

"I know it happened there. But I wasn't _there_ when _it_ actually happened. So…did she say anything to you?"

She shook her head. "No. Now get off my shoulder, Weasley. Flitwick is coming."

Ron didn't budge but put on his puppy dog eyes. "What? Aren't we on first name basis anymore?"

She sighed. "Alright. Ron. There. Now piss off."

He grinned and went to stand next to Harry and Hermione again. Harry grinned too.

"Bad luck, Ron."

Ron smacked Harry's arm. "Shut up, Harry."

Hermione shook her head and went over to Lavender. "Boys, eh?"

"You have no idea."

* * *

* * *

Ah, another chapter done. I wasn't going to update till Wednesday, but then I got these lovely reviews and I'm in a good mood today. I went dancing with a friend yesterday and it was so much fun that it cheered me up for the entire next week.

**Emma Barrows:** Hey Emma! Good to hear from you again  I'm glad you like it and I promise I'll update soon.

**lucerito-del-alma: **Hey girl! Hmm…I can't risk getting a howler. My parents might start to suspect I'm not normal if they overhear a red envelope shouting at me… I'm SO glad you like it. Because if you do, then I know the story's good. And Neville…well, I did tell you something about him, but if you can't remember then I'm not going to tell you. I don't want to spoil the surprise :P I'll update soon and I'll anxiously await your opinion :DOh! Before I forget! Remember the audition I had in Utrecht? I received a letter Wednesday morning that I'm through to the next round! I've never been this happy before in my entire life! (Yes, I'm gloating now, but I do feel that I have the right to :P)

Well, that was the third chapter then…on to the next I'd say. But you'll have to wait a few days. Perhaps even a whole week. It depends on how much homework and things I have to do. I've got a presentation tomorrow evening for my music class. We all had to write a music piece in between 3 and 5 minutes and for more than one instrument and I'm slowly getting more nervous. So wish me luck!

-Raven55


	4. Telling Off Malfoy

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

**

* * *

Chapter four: Telling off Malfoy**

"Good afternoon class. Today I'd like to talk about the Sticking charm. It enables you to make the ground, or any other surface, sticky. This is such a powerful charm that it is very hard to move anything that got stuck to that surface. Now please repeat after me. 'Locomotor Impedus.'"

The class chimed the spell.

Flitwick smiled. "Good, good. Now please pair up in two's. Now I want the first people to walk up to the second. The second one's, raise your wand at the ground in front of the person walking up to you and say the spell. If your opponent can not move, you have successfully mastered this charm."

There was a bustling about in the class for a moment or two.

"Right, now go to the opposite ends of the classroom."

Another moment of bustling.

"Everyone ready? Right. Go ahead– what is it mister Weasley?"

Ron put his hand down. "I have no one to pair up with, professor."

"Of course you do. This class has an even number. Where's mister Potter?"

Harry raised his hand. "I'm over here sir. I paired up with Hermione."

Professor Flitwick seemed a little surprised by this sudden change in pairs. "Oh…well…who does miss Granger normally pair up with? Where's mister Longbottom?"

Everyone looked around, but Neville wasn't there. Hermione motioned Ron to come over to her.

"Ron, you pair up with Harry. I'll go look for Neville." She raised her hand. "Professor? Can I go look for him?"

"Yes, yes. Do that miss Granger."

She took her book bag and left the classroom. Why wasn't Neville in class? Neville was always in class. He was an eager student, even though he wasn't a very good one.

'Hermione! You can't think like that.' She thought angrily.

She looked at her watch. It was nearly time for her next lesson and she really didn't want to miss her first Muggle Studies lesson of the year. Today they would be talking about the internet. She couldn't wait to see the faces of all those kids.

Suddenly she stopped. She turned around and took a few steps back. Behind a door, a classroom door, she heard voices. By the look of the dusty number above the door, this room hadn't been used for a while.

She listened closer. The voices were those of Neville and Malfoy, no doubt about that.

'Did Malfoy push him in there? Oh, he's so dead! If he hurt Neville like last time…'

"Listen, I don't have time to listen to your worthless babble."

"Well, you'd better listen to me. Because I know-"

"You know _nothing_ Malfoy! Now get out of my face, because you are wasting my time."

The door opened with a jerk and Hermione stumbled backwards. Malfoy came out and looked pale at the sight of her.

"Granger"

She didn't say anything and he used her speechlessness to escape silently. Hermione stared inside unbelievingly.

"Neville!" she squealed. "Neville, I'm so proud of you! Are you okay? You just told Malfoy off!"

She hugged him.

"You just told Malfoy off." She repeated as she let go of him.

"I- I was just-"

"What happened? Did he push you inside to make more fun of you?"

"I- I-" he stuttered. "I bumped into him on my way to Charms. He started…to talk to me…I- What you just heard…I didn't want him to…to make fun of me or my parents anymore."

"Did he do that again? Oh Neville, I swear…He'll pay for that someday. But you handled him yourself! See? I told you, you could do more than you think."

The bell rang, making them both look up.

"Hey…what were you doing here anyway? Class wasn't over…did you skip Charms?"

"No, professor Flitwick told me to go look for you. Well, actually I offered to do look for you but-"

"I'll be late for my next class, sorry Hermione. But I hate being late for Divination. That centaur means well, but he scares me."

"Oh…" she said. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you at the library tonight. Eight 'o clock?"

"Make it nine."

She nodded. "Sure. See you then."

-

Hermione yawned and stretched out in her comfortable chair.

"What's the time?" she asked.

Ron looked up at the clock. "Ten to nine."

"Why, have you got a date?" Harry asked grinning.

Hermione got to her feet. "Something like that. I'm supposed to meet Neville at the library at nine."

Harry raised his eyebrow. "Neville? You're meeting Neville at the library?"

She nodded. "It's just a study thing. He asked my help and I agreed to tutor him for a bit.

"…Oh…"

"Listen Harry, you've got nothing to worry about, okay? I'm with you. You, not Neville."

She put her book on the table and stuffed her wand in her pocket. She kissed Harry and gave him another reassuring look.

"I'll see you two tomorrow. I have no idea how long this is going to take."

"Alright. Good luck Hermione." Ron said.

"Yeah, good look." Harry said with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

She left the common room with a last wave to her friends. The Fat Lady in the portrait hole gave her a strange look. "Where are you going this time of night?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored the question. She continued through the corridors, shivering as a cold draft of air passed her by. She pulled her cloak around her a bit tighter and walked down the stairs. She looked around when she thought she head someone.

"Is anyone there?"

Suddenly the swish of a cloak made her jump.

"Well, well Granger. Out on a little stroll? Meeting up with Potter? I'm sure you two like to leave the weasel behind sometimes. But, living in that small shack they call a house, all cramped up together, he's just not used to being alone. I'm sure he doesn't understand the meaning of the word."

"Oh shove it Malfoy." She said tiredly.

He had scared her and she didn't like being scared like that.

"So what are you doing here? You know I could report this to Snape. He'd love to dock some more points for you and Potter, sneaking about at night."

"Well what about you then, Malfoy? You're up and about too, you know. Don't you think Snape'll find that a bit odd?"

Malfoy just grinned. "Do you really think he'd rather take points from his own House than from yours? You really are a strange person."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something back, but she snapped around.

"…Did you hear that?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Hear what?"

"Footsteps."

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She shrieked and snapped back.

"Whoa! Don't scream Hermione! You'll wake someone." Neville hissed.

Hermione sighed. "It's you…you scared me Neville."

"Oh…sorry. Are you okay?"

She nodded. She turned around to continue her walk towards the library when she found herself staring into Malfoy's face. He was gloating.

"You were meeting _him_? _Longbottom_? Does Potter know about this, or are you going behind his back? Oh, this is just too much."

He started to laugh. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh, grow up Malfoy. I'm just going to help Neville with his Charms homework. And don't you dare gloat because Merlin knows you need help too."

Malfoy stopped laughing. "You'll regret that one, Granger."

She smirked. "Oh, I don't think I will. Honestly, what can you do to me that is really that bad? Come on Neville, I don't want to take too long. I'm tired so let's get this done."

He nodded and together they went on to the library. When they sat down, she opened a book she had hidden in her cloak.

"Read this chapter here first, then I'll help you."

He nodded, but didn't take the book. "…You handled Malfoy pretty well back there."

"He's not all that special, you know. You get used to his remarks and after a while you grow immune. In fact, I think I'm getting rather good at countering them."

He nodded silently. She shoved the book towards him and he took it.

"Just read the first chapter."

He started to read. Hermione watched him for a minute. Then she took out some parchment and began to draw symbols on it. Neville watched her from the corner of his eyes.

When she looked at him with a smile, he returned to his book again.

-

"Was it a long night? You look exhausted."

Hermione nodded and let her head lean on Harry's shoulder.

"Did it work out? Did he get better?" he asked as he caressed her cheek.

She nodded. "Yeah…but I have to go again tonight."

"Again?" Harry asked unbelievingly.

She nodded. "I'm really sorry, Harry. But he's making good progress and I want him to hold on to that."

"But you were only going to tutor him for a bit!"

"And it will only be a few more times. He'll be ready in no time."

Ron shook his head. "You have to think about your own life too, you know. You need to relax and unwind. And if you don't do it for yourself, then do it for me."

Her head popped up from Harry's shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Listen, if you're gone all evening, then I have to listen to him all evening telling me how much he misses you."

She blushed and looked at Harry. "You really miss me that much?"

His face went red. "Well, yeah, of course I do."

"Aw, that's so sweet." She pecked his cheek, causing him to grin like an idiot again.

Ron started to laugh and Harry and Hermione soon followed.

"You know what, you guys are right. I'm taking tomorrow night off."

Harry smiled and pecked her cheek. "Good. That's settled. I am going to force you to relax, okay?"

She beamed. "Deal."

Lavender and Parvati joined them at the table.

"Have you seen this?" Parvati asked as she passed them a small flyer.

"What's that?" Ron asked eagerly as he peeked over Hermione's shoulder. Hermione read it out loud.

"Halloween Ball. A time of celebration should be celebrated. So let's celebrate Halloween with the Weird Sisters in the Great Hall! Dress code: Dressrobes."

She looked up. Parvati and Lavender were beaming.

"Doesn't that sound fun?"

Ron shook his head. "No. Remember what we had to g through two years ago, Harry? That was awful."

Harry laughed. "Only this time I already have a date."

He put his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Ron looked away, grinning. Parvati jumped up as Seamus passed the table.

"Hey Seamus, wait up…have you heard about Halloween?"

Everyone laughed as they watched Parvati follow Seamus.

"So Ron…you're next." Hermione said with a smile.

Ron smiled back. He leaned over on the table and gave Lavender an over exaggerated sweet smile. "Say Lavender. How about it? Fancy going to the ball with me?"

Lavender laughed. "What happened to your shyness about stuff like this? You sound like Fred…"

He shrugged. "Well, how about it?"

He gave her another sweet smile and this time he threw in his puppy dog eyes.

"Alright!" She said a giggle. "Sure, that's fine."

Ron smiled normally this time. "Woohoo! I got a date!"

Lavender shook her head and stood up, suppressing a giggle. Hermione quickly followed her example.

"Lav, wait."

She turned around and looked at the boys. "You two, stay behind another minute. It's time for girl-talk."

Harry and Ron pretended to shudder with horror.

She ran after Lavender. "So…now I think it's time for _you_ to confess something to _me_."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hermione tutted and linked her arm in Lavender's. "Come on…you can tell me if you like Ron."

Suddenly Lavender started to laugh heartily. "Oh Merlin, that's what you think?" she laughed again. "Really, I don't like Ron, not the way you think."

"But you accepted his invitation!"

Lavender put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Hermione, I'm going to say something that you yourself must've said a thousand times or more: We're just friends."

Hermione opened her mouth, but she knew she couldn't say anything. Because she'd had to repeat that sentence over and over again throughout the years. But still she felt she had to say something.

"Hmm, good answer, Lavender. Nice and normal, vague and dodging yet giving me no room to comment because I said it loads of times myself."

Lavender smiled. "Exactly! I thought that one was rather good. But seriously. Ron and I are just friends."

"Uhuh."

"Really!"

"Sure."

"Hermione!"

* * *

* * *

Ah, another chapter done. I'm sorry it took me this long raises fist and curses school but I had to prepare a mathematics oral exam and I had completely forgooten about it and there were loads of things I had to do besides that. So, here at last, chapter nr. 4.

**Emma Barrows: **I've started reading Ominix and it sounds good! I'll be checking that story out frequently, I promise! I'm glad you like this story and I hope you'll read it till the end.

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** I'm glad you like it! And it will become even more interesting further on. Just wait till they get to the Halloween ball and as for Christmas… I'm going to be mean here and keep all these little secrets to myself. You'll find out in due time.

I promise to update the next chapter a bit sooner than I did this one. And I hope to hear from all of you again!

Raven55


	5. Fighting

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

**

* * *

Chapter five: Fighting**

The candle had already melted half-way when she finally looked up from her chart. The different and complicated instructions had taken two hours for her to finish.

"Right…are you done?"

Neville nodded.

"Okay. Good. Now this one here…is the sticking charm shape. It's an easy one, just a sharp little jab, really. Go on, try it."

He nodded.

She walked to one of the bookshelves. "You know when to do it, right?"

He nodded again.

"Okay, here I come."

She walked back to where he was sitting and waited for him to shout the spell.

"Locomotor Impedus!"

She took another step and noticed how her foot was having slight difficulty coming back up. It felt like walking over a floor where someone had spilt a jar of honey. But it wasn't strong enough to stop her from moving.

"That was good. But it can be done better. You know, I needs to make sure I can't move at all."

He sighed. "I know."

"But you're making progress! You've achieved a lot already. Let's call it a day for now."

She packed her wand in her book bag and waited till Neville was done.

"Same time tomorrow evening?" He asked.

But she shook her head. "Sorry, but not tomorrow. I promised Harry I'd stay and do something with him…to help me relax, you know."

"Oh…okay. Right."

They walked through the corridors, trying not to wake the paintings.

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"You and Harry…you two are really close…aren't you?"

She chuckled. "Neville, he's my boyfriend. We love each other, of course we're close. But you know we always have been, Ron, Harry and me. We're just really…close."

Neville looked at the walls. "I'm jealous of that. I don't have friends like that. I don't. Of course I have friends…Dean, Seamus and you guys. But I'm not really close to anyone. I don't have someone I can always rely on, to tell everything. No one really knows me."

Hermione bit her lip. She had always felt that her friends were there for her, not counting a few occasions where she and Ron had argued. For her, it was normal to have close friends. And she hadn't realised that it wasn't the same for everyone.

She laid her hand on Neville's shoulder. "I- I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. It's not your fault. It's just that I've always had problems with making friends. I'm not really good at that."

The rest of their walk continued in silence. Hermione didn't really know what to say. She felt bad for Neville, but what could she do about it?

-

She was sitting on a bench of the Quidditch Pitch, watching the red dots in the sky. Harry and Ron were up there, practicing. She yawned. Yesterday's tutoring session had been a really late one and she'd had some trouble sleeping afterwards.

She had spent almost the entire night wondering and thinking about what Neville had said. And to be honest, she felt a bit guilty too.

She yawned again.

It had been a miracle that she had survived that day at school. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her and stared up again, trying to recognise who was who.

Finally they all came down. Hermione stifled her third yawn and smiled.

"Hey Harry."

She kissed him as he got off his broom.

"Hey sweetheart."

They ignored the snickering around them.

"Ron, hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." He had his broom under his arm and ruffled up his hair. "Right. I'm done."

The three of them went back up to the castle. Hermione entangled her hand with Harry's and smiled. When they walked up the steps, the door opened and they stood face to face with Draco Malfoy.

He smirked. "You know Granger, I didn't think you had it in you."

They looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" she said.

"And you Potter...I thought you were a bit smarter than that."

"Malfoy, if you're not going to enlighten us about what you're on about, then piss off." Ron said tiredly.

Malfoy shook his head. "Are you really that stupid? You don't mind that your girlfriend is meeting someone late at night? Longbottom of all people?"

Hermione started to laugh. "Listen, not that it's any of your business, but I don't meet Neville for the thing you're implying. I told you last night. If you forgot that already, then you're the stupid one here. And anyway, you should keep your ugly pale nose out of other people's business."

Ron snorted as Malfoy gave her a foul look. But she just shrugged.

"I told you before Malfoy. There is nothing you can do to me that is really that bad."

He looked as if he wanted to say something back, but thought the better of it and pushed past them.

"You handled him pretty well back there, Hermione. Nice job." Ron said approvingly. "Didn't she, Harry?"

Harry looked up. "Wha-…oh…yeah…"

"Harry, is something wrong?" Hermione asked concerned. "You don't sound very happy."

"It's nothing. Really. Let's just go up and do something together. Like we said. How about a game of chess? Gobbstones? Or let's just talk."

Hermione stifled another yawn.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About half past nine."

She looked at Harry. "I'm really, really sorry Harry, but I'm so tired. I can hardly keep my eyes open. Do you mind terribly if I went straight to bed?"

Harry hesitated for a second. "…No. Go ahead. You need your sleep."

"Thanks. You're really sweet." She pecked his lips and went up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

Harry slumped down on the couch.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ron said as he sat down opposite him.

Harry let out a heavy sigh. "It's nothing…"

"Harry…I know something's bothering you. Just tell me."

"It's just…she spends the entire day working for school, she doesn't sleep at night because she's worried about Neville's social life and in the evenings she's either going to bed too early or spending all her time with him."

"You've got nothing to worry about. She's not the kind of girl to go behind your back. And, no offence, but _Neville_? No competition there, mate."

Harry sighed. "It's not that I don't trust her. Merlin knows I do. I just miss her."

-

"Hey Harry." Said Ron as he sat down for lunch. "Did you sleep okay last night? I heard you tossing and turning the entire time."

"I'm fine. I slept alright. Just took me a while." Harry said as he searched the Hall with his eyes. "Did you see Hermione this morning?"

Ron shook his head. "Nope. Didn't see her at breakfast. Maybe she ate earlier. You know what she's like. And she doesn't have Divination anymore, so it's no wonder you didn't see her in class. You know, I think she got the better deal. I know Firenze means well, but he's even foggier than Trelawney was!"

Harry shrugged. "He's alright. At least he doesn't go round every lesson telling me what horrible death I'll die this year."

He searched the hall again. He flinched as he heard Malfoy call his name.

"Hey Potter! Lost your girlfriend already? You'd better ask Longbottom then! He spends more time with her than you do!"

Ron looked at Harry.

"Calm down." He whispered as he saw Harry's hands clench to fists.

"Listen Malfoy! Go bother someone who cares!" Ron shouted.

"Oh calm down Weasel-boy. I thought I was doing that already!"

Harry stood up and took hold of Ron's collar. "Come on, let's go. It's potions next. Maybe you'll get a shot at him there."

"I will kill that slimy git one day. I will." He said as he was dragged of to the dungeons. They calmed down when they saw Hermione waiting at the Potions door.

"Hey guys." She said merrily.

She kissed Harry's cheek, but he didn't respond.

"What's the matter?"

"Where were you at lunch?" Harry asked her bluntly.

"I- I was in the library. Helping Neville finish up his potions homework."

"Great. Malfoy was right then."

"Harry, don't." Ron said warningly. "She's just helping out a friend."

Hermione looked hurt. "Did I do something wrong?"

Harry shook his head with a sigh. "…No. I was being a jerk. Sorry."

He kissed her and she smiled again.

"Watch it. Here comes Malfoy." Ron whispered as silent as he could.

"Ah, found her then? Did Longbottom tell you where she was?"

Hermione dropped her book bag to the ground and stepped up close to Malfoy. "If you don't stop this, I will break your nose. Merlin knows I can." She hissed as she waved her fist menacingly.

Malfoy backed away and bumped into Snape.

"Mister Malfoy. Please refrain from obstructing me on my way to a classroom or I will have to take points."

Hermione turned around and smiled. When she was sure Snape wasn't looking she gave Harry and Ron a high-five. Gryffindor shot, Gryffindor scored.

-

"Did you rest a bit last night?" Neville asked as he watched her from behind a candle.

She nodded. "Yeah. I went to bed really early and I feel loads better now."

"That's good."

She nodded and continued drawing wriggly lines on some parchment. Neville looked at the ceiling in silence. He felt she was looking at him and looked back. She smiled.

Neville seemed different now. Much more confident about his abilities. As if he had finally realised he could do loads more than he thought.

"Hermione? Can I borrow your Charms book please? I need to check something."

She pulled the book from her bag and gave it to him. He took it and started to read. She looked at her finished drawing. It was the sealing charm movement, well, it was _supposed_ to be the sealing charm movement. But it was a little odd.

"Neville, can I have that book back for a second? I need to see a chart…"

He nodded and handed it back to her. A small scrap of parchment fell out onto her drawing. She picked it up. It was a flyer about the Halloween ball.

"How'd that get in there…" she muttered.

Neville looked up. "What?"

"I found this flyer about the ball in my book…" she answered.

"Oh…"

It was silent for a moment.

"You must be going with Harry, aren't you?"

"Yeah…why?"

He coughed nervously. "Well, you see…I'm not really good at asking a girl to be my date…and I was kind of hoping…"

-

"What!" Harry yelled. "You've got to be bloody kidding me!"

"Harry, please calm down." Hermione pleaded.

"No, I'm not going to bloody well calm down!"

"But please just listen to me. He's just a really shy boy! He told me he wasn't very good at asking girls to be his date and-"

"Well he just proved the opposite, didn't he!" Harry roared.

Hermione's lip trembled. She hadn't thought he'd take it this badly.

"But you're really popular. You can have any girl you want."

"Listen to me Hermione. I want _you_! You're my _girlfriend_! Isn't that enough reason for you to go with me?"

"But you can go with Parvati….Seamus turned her down because he was already going with a Ravenclaw…so you can go with her…right?"

Harry let himself fall down on the couch. "I can not believe you, Hermione. You've got this all sorted out, haven't you?"

"I just don't want him to go alone, he hasn't got friends as close as you and Ron are to me. He doesn't have the nerve to ask a girl and I feel sorry for tuning him down in fourth. I just can't-"

"Fine! You know what? Just go with Neville! I'm sure he'll get you back home safely. And be sure to give him a goodnight kiss, because that's only fair!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs.

"…Harry…"

But he had already stormed out the common room and she was staring at a closed door. Behind her eyes the tears started to burn.

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**Emma Barrows: **More telling off Malfoy! Huzzah! The annoying little bugger. But he gets what he wants, doesn't he. He wants to break Harry and Hermione up and he seems to succeed…I am severely starting to dislike him again, even after he was in my good book for a while because of some fics I read and because he was a good guy in A Light in Darker Days. But in this fic…he's just plain old annoying Malfoy because I wanted to stay true to J. K. Rowling's view of characters as much as possible…Anyway, hope you liked the chapter :)

Another chapter done, on to the next! The Halloween Ball is coming up and Hermione and Harry aren't really on good footing now, are they…someone will have to apologise, but maybe that's not enough if something else happens. I'm already feeling sad for both of them.

Anyway, please leave me a message by reviewing. I really, really want to know what other people think of this fic, because I am rather proud of it. I don't want to sound snobbish or anything, but I'm just proud of what it turned out to be and I want other people to tell me if that is justified or not so I can improve my writing. Thank you very much for reading and I hope to see you at the next chapter!

raven55


	6. The Halloween Ball

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

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**Chapter six: The Halloween Ball **

Ron looked at his friend with a worried frown. Harry had stormed into the bedroom angry last night and had hidden behind the curtains of his bed without saying a single thing.

"Aren't you going to talk at all?" he said with an exasperated sigh.

Harry looked at him. His expression had changed from angry to sad. He opened his mouth but closed it again as he noticed Hermione coming in. She looked at him with fright, afraid he'd shout at her again, hoping he'd come up and say something to her.

But he didn't move. He just stared at his food again, roughly cutting it into tiny bits. Ron looked up and saw her too. He was halfway raising his hand to wave at her when she shook her head warningly.

She sat down at the other end of the table, next to Ginny and Luna. Ron turned back to Harry.

"…You two have been fighting. That's what all this is about."

Harry grunted as he stuck a fork into his mouth.

"Come on. You can tell me. I'm your best friend. I'm sure it wasn't all that bad."

Harry looked at him. "Do you know what she asked me last night?"

Ron silently shook his head. Normally, if Harry had this tone of voice, a tantrum was coming on.

"She asked me…if I would mind taking Parvati to the ball."

"Wha- why?""

"Because she felt so sorry about Neville being too shy to ask a girl out. So she decided to go with him. Can you believe that? She prefers to go to that stupid ball with him!"

Ron looked at him with an unbelieving frown.

"She's my girlfriend! But she's going with Neville, for Merlin's sake…that's not normal, is it?"

Ron shook his head slowly. Why Hermione would do this was a mystery to him.

"Harry…I'll go talk to her, okay? I'll find out what's going on."

He stood up and was about to walk over to her when Malfoy stood up.

"Hey Potter! Had a row with the mudblood? Why isn't she sitting with you? I bet she dumped him. Hey guys, the mudblood and pothead broke up!"

"Shut it Malfoy!" Ron shouted before Harry could say anything. "Everything's fine, so piss off and go bother someone else. We're not interested!"

Malfoy and the entire Slytherin table burst into laughter.

"Come on Harry. Let's go."

Harry nodded aggressively and threw his fork down. He felt Hermione stare at him, but he ignored it. She looked at Ron. Their eyes met. But he shook his head.

"Later." He mouthed.

She sat down again and looked at her plate. Ginny laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong Hermione? Did you two fight?"

Hermione explained what had happened and suppressed the tears that were welling up inside her. Ginny just stared at her.

"Hermione…I don't approve of the way he acts…but I do understand it. I know you mean well, but you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have."

Hermione burst into tears.

"I know." She sobbed. "It's just….it's just that I felt so bad for Neville and he's a nice guy and I wanted to help him out. But not if I lose Harry over it."

Ginny patted her back awkwardly.

"So, Parvati said yes?"

Harry nodded grouchily. "Yeah. After I promised to pay her more attention than I did at the Yule ball. I guess she was glad not to have to go alone either."

"Are you going to talk it out with Hermione at all? You two need to sort this out."

Harry sighed. "…I know, I know. But it's not that easy. I can't just walk up to her and say that I'm sorry."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Why not? You yelled at her and didn't let her explain."

"But she was the one who decided to go with someone else."

"Harry, at least try?"

Harry turned around. "And you're not actually helping Ron. Who's side are you on anyway?"

"I'm on nobodies side. I just want to get you two back together."

The portrait hole opened and Neville walked in. He looked at Harry for a second and quickly ran up the stairs. Ron sighed and sat down, opening his book.

"You've got two days before the ball. Try and patch it up before then, you'll both feel better. And if you do that, then you can be better company for Parvati too. She deserves a bit more of you."

Harry nodded vaguely. "You're right. I'll talk to her. I'll try and make it up. I guess I shouldn't have yelled at her."

Ron sighed with relief. "Phew. I was worried you wouldn't. Don't yell at either of us, okay?"

Harry chuckled. "I wouldn't dare."

-

Hermione looked into the mirror. She wasn't happy about her hair. She'd spent an hour just for picking out the right dress robes. She had ended up picking a leafy green one.

"Parvati? Can you do something nice with my hair?"

Parvati mumbled a yes and came out of the bathroom with a comb between her teeth and her hands up in her hair, tying it up into an elegant bun.

She looked stunning in her dark red dress robes. It fitted her perfectly and complimented her shape. Inside, Hermione felt a little jealous. She had talked to Harry and all was well again, but their relationship was still on thin ice. She was sure that if they argued again, that could be the end of it all.

But she couldn't help feeling jealous as she saw how pretty Parvati looked, especially now she was going with Harry. Normally she didn't really care about who was the prettiest, but this time there was a difference. Harry was her boyfriend.

'Don't be jealous, Hermione.' She thought. 'This is your own fault to begin with. And if you're jealous, then you'll get angry. And if you do that, you'll argue and that'll be that.'

"You look really pretty Parvati." She managed to say.

Parvati smiled. "Thanks. You look gorgeous too, you know."

She pushed Hermione into a chair in front of a full-length mirror.

"I see you used some Sleekeezy cream. That's a good start." Parvati said as she took two strands of hair at the right side of Hermione's head and started to braid it.

Hermione looked at herself. She looked pretty, Parvati was right. Her green dress robes complimented her curly brown hair and the silver pendant she wore really suited her.

"Hold this." Parvati said, holding out the braid.

Hermione took it and Parvati started to make a similar braid at the left side of her head. When it was done she gave that to Hermione as well.

"Hold that one too, I'll be right back."

Parvati skipped over to her bedside table and pulled out her beauty-case. "I've got this lovely silver hairpin that'll match your necklace."

Parvati took the braids and loosely tied them together at the back of her head. As a finishing touch she hid the elastic hair band underneath the silver pin. She smiled at her creation, but Hermione wasn't sure.

"Doesn't this make me look a bit…Slytherin?"

Parvati shook her head. "No! This is a completely different shade of green. A pretty green. And it really looks well on you."

Hermione blushed. "…Thanks."

Lavender came out of the bathroom humming her favourite Weird Sisters tune. She was wearing ocean blue dress robes with subtle sparkly silver whiffs here and there. Her hair was down and she had braided beads at the ends of a few strands of hair.

Parvati smiled. "You look fab! Special reasons?"

Lavender shot her a mock-nasty smile. "Piss off, Parvati. Does the word 'friends' mean anything to the both of you?"

Hermione grinned apologetically but Parvati shook her head merrily. "Hmm, 'friends'…no, I don't think it's in my vocabulary. Nope."

She ducked just in time when a pillow came flying her way.

-

"Girls! Hurry up!" someone shouted at the bottom of the stairs.

Hermione recognised it to be Ron's voice.

"We're done!"

Lavender hurried down the stairs. "Hi Ron, let's go."

He smiled and offered her his arm, which she took gladly.

"Come on you lot, we're going to be late for dinner."

They looked up as Hermione came down, followed closely by Parvati. Hermione looked at Harry and Neville. She could still go with Harry, but then again she knew she couldn't. She hugged Harry tightly.

"You're still okay with this?" She asked.

He nodded, "Yeah. Enjoy tonight. But tomorrow you're my girlfriend again, okay?"

She smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He kissed her gently. Hermione sighed and walked on to Neville.

"Let's go Neville."

She hesitated when he offered her his arm, but Harry nodded to her and offered his own arm to a beaming Parvati. Hermione couldn't help noticing that Parvati and Harry made a very handsome couple.

She didn't look at them again until dinner. The House tables in the Hall had been replaced by small tables for two. Hermione sat down and immediately took a sip of her wine, guessing she would do that a lot that night.

"So…are you and Harry okay again?" Neville asked as he unfolded his napkin on his lap.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I was a bit worried earlier, but we're alright now."

"Oh. That's…good."

"Yes. I don't gave many people I care for deeply and losing Harry would really be terrible."

She took a bite of her chicken wing. Neville looked at her from behind the candle on the table, much like he had done during their last session.

"Are there…more people you care for that deeply?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course there are. I love Harry. And Ron is like a big brother to me, I don't have siblings so that feels very secure. You know, to have someone like that. And then there's my three year old cousin, Paul. He is such a sweet boy. I don't see him that often, but when I do I always play with him. I love him to bits."

Neville pushed his food around on his plate, a ponderous look on his face. "That's so great. I'm jealous. I don't have any cousins and no brothers or sisters either."

Somewhere in the background music started to play. One by one the couples got up and moved towards the dance floor. Neville eyed them for a moment and looked back at Hermione.

"Want to dance?"

She slowly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, sounds like fun."

She took his hand and followed him.

"Hey Granger! Why aren't you dancing with your lover boy? Oh wait, that _is_ what you're doing!"

Hermione snapped around and held up her fist menacingly.

"Go…away Malfoy." She said slowly. "Because I don't intend to put up with this any longer."

She swung her fist back, but there was no need to punch him as he had already fled. She turned back to Neville and started to dance with him. She looked for Harry and Parvati ad saw them dancing as well. Parvati was definitely enjoying herself, but Harry didn't look too happy.

He smiled when he caught her eye. The song ended and Hermione let go of Neville at once.

"Would you mind if I danced with Harry for a bit?"

Neville shook her head. "Go ahead. I'll keep Parvati entertained."

She smiled thankfully and practically skipped over to her boyfriend.

"Heya."

"Hey. Everything alright over there?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But I'd like to dance with you…for a few dances?"

Harry smiled broadly. "I'll talk to Parvati."

But Parvati was already talking to Neville at a table, happily sipping her wine. Hermione saw Neville fill up the glass again.

"Come, Parvati is having fun over there."

She pulled him to the dance floor.

"This is nice." She mumbled as a slow song started and he held her in his arms.

He mumbled agreeing. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest.

"You're looking really beautiful tonight, did you know that?"

She blushed. "I'm not as pretty as Parvati. She's absolutely jaw-dropping. Just look at her. All the boys are looking at her."

"Then you're lucky that I'm not like all boys. I haven't even noticed her, not really. I was looking at you all along."

Hermione blushed even deeper. The song came to an end and slowly she pulled back from his comfortable embrace.

"I'd better go back to Neville."

"…Okay…see you later."

He kissed her.

She walked back to Neville and Parvati. Parvati looked a bit red. A bit unstable.

"Is she alright?" Hermione asked.

"I'll go back to…Harry…and talk" Parvati said as she got up and wobbled back to Harry.

"She's fine. A bit tipsy." Neville assured her.

"So, what have you and Parvati been talking about."

"Oh, nothing much. She was pretty hammered so it was impossible to talk about something sensible."

A sudden loud 'whoop' of a large crowd made them look up.

"What's going on?"

He shrugged. "Let's go see."

She followed him and pushed her way through the crowd. Right in the middle of the dance floor, Parvati was snogging Harry like crazy. Hermione's breath got stuck in her throat.

Harry pushed Parvati away from him. "Hermione!"

Tears were glittering in her eyes. She turned around and ran, tears now streaming down her face. She blindly pushed people out of the way

"Hermione!"

Harry tried to follow her, but the crowd closed behind her, forming a wall. He watched helplessly as she ran out the Hall.

He tried to pry a way through the crowd, but Ron stopped him. "…Don't Harry. Just don't."

"But I-"

"Listen! You screwed up big time just now. So leave it, okay? Leave her alone, just for now." Ron said as he tightened his grip on Harry's arm.

Harry's eyes filled up with tears. "But I didn't…I mean, Parvati, she…"

"Parvati is drunk. You're not. You screwed up."

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**Magic and Sparkle:** thanks . I do intend to keep it up :) so many more chapters to come and so much to happen!

**Emma Barrows: **Harry absolutely loves Hermione with all his heart. Her going with Neville was certainly a shock to him. And now this….poor Hermione, poor Harry too…I read Ominix! I don't know if I reviewed that, so I'll just take the time here to say I absolutely loved that chapter! Go you! Hope to see you at the next chapter!

**Lucerito-del-alma: **yay! I'm on your favs list! wOOt! …but…remind me never ever to get on your bad side when you're in the kitchen using a hogedrukpan…I'll have to defend myself with deadly cutlery! Oh, perhaps you'd like to check out 'Words that we couldn't say', a hp songfic I wrote. I think you might like it.

Well folks, until next time!

raven55


	7. The Day After

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

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**Chapter seven: The Day After **

"Hermione, please come down." Lavender pleaded through the door.

She could hear Hermione sob.

"Hermione please."

"No!" she cried. "I know he's down there, I'm not coming."

Lavender turned around and shook her head. "She's not coming down Ron."

Ron sighed. "I don't understand. Why did Harry let Parvati kiss him?"

Lavender sighed too. "It wasn't his fault. Amy, Seamus' date, said that Parvati was as drunk as a sailor. Apparently she flew around his neck and assaulted him."

"But couldn't he have….warded her off?" Ron asked desperately.

"No. You don't know how persistent she can be. She has a really tight grip, you know."

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

"I'll go talk to her."

Ron nodded.

"Hey, listen." He softly grabbed her hand. "I had a nice time. It was fun."

She smiled. "Yeah, I liked it too. You dance really well."

"Would you like to go out some time?" he asked carefully.

"I'd love to. Thank you."

She picked at her fingernails uncomfortably for a second. Then she quickly leaned in and kissed his cheek. Ron looked stunned.

"Wow…" he muttered.

"I'll just go up to try and talk to Hermione now…see you later."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Lavender turned around and slowly walked back up the stairs. She could still hear Hermione cry through the door.

"Hermione? Please, Harry isn't here, I promise."

It was silent for a while.

"Can I come in?"

Again there was no answer. Lavender waited and suddenly the doorknob turned. The door opened a little bit and Lavender opened it further. Hermione sat back down on her bed, clutching a pillow to her chest.

Lavender sat down next to her. Hermione's mascara was running and her eyes were puffy. Tears had stained her cheeks.

"Oh Hermione…" Lavender pulled her into a hug. "It'll be alright, you know. Really, everything will turn out fine."

"How can it?" Hermione wailed. "Harry let her kiss him. He didn't…didn't even try to stop her."

Her crying slowed down to soft sobbing. Lavender looked at the ceiling. What could she do?

"Hermione, listen to what I'm going to say. What you saw…you understood it wrong."

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes, Lavender!" Hermione said shrilly. "…Oh….Lavender, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's alright Hermione. But let me explain what I meant."

Hermione nodded subdued.

"Parvati was drunk. She still is. She's plastered. Harry didn't want to kiss her. She practically assaulted him. And in the morning she'll regret it, if she even remembers it."

"Harry…didn't?"

"No."

"…Oh."

Lavender stood up. "I'll go down now. You just sleep and I'll go and see if I can get an anti-hangover potion for Parvati."

Hermione nodded silently. "Yeah…I'll just…go to sleep."

She stood up, letting the pillow drop to the floor and went into the bathroom. She looked into the mirror. She nearly started to cry again at the messed up face staring back at her. She kept seeing Parvati and Harry over and over again.

'But Lavender said…'

She shook her head. She trusted Lavender. Lavender wouldn't lie. And tomorrow she would talk to Harry, after she had rested a while. And everything would be alright.

She changed into her pyjama and got into bed.

-

She opened her eyes. Someone was complaining loudly. It was Parvati.

"Oh man…" she said, clutching her head. "It hurts."

She had her eyes closed. Hermione stood up and stretched out. Lavender looked at her with a worried frown.

'She probably thinks I'll throw a scene.' Hermione thought angrily.

She sat down on Parvati's bed. "Are you okay Parvati?"

The girl groaned. "I'm never touching alcohol again!"

Lavender snorted. "You say that every time we go out. You just shouldn't drink that much."

"I didn't want to…not really, but Neville kept filling up my glass and then…I can't really remember…Neville said something…and then there's a black hole….and then I found myself snogging Harry."

Suddenly she opened her eyes with a start. "Harry! Oh my God! Hermione, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I did that! I'm…god, I'm so sorry!"

Hermione nodded. "You were drunk. Let's just forget all about it."

Parvati nodded subdued. "I really am sorry."

"Forget about it. If I can just talk to Harry about it, everything will be fine."

She took a shower and got dressed to go downstairs. She wanted to wait for Harry to come down, but he could've had his breakfast earlier, so she decided to go down.

Slowly she wandered into the Great Hall. When she entered, she scanned the table to see if Harry was there, but he wasn't.

She sat down, feeling sad, and looked at the food. Nothing appealed to her a lot and a nauseous feeling rose in her stomach. But deciding she needed to eat something she took a bit of toast. She looked up as someone sat down beside her. It was Neville.

"Heya." He said in a soft voice. "Are you okay? After last night?"

She nodded. "I- I just need to talk to him, then I know everything will be alright."

He took a boiled egg and cut it into thin slices on his toast. "He already had breakfast. He was up in the dormitory. He was really upset. He felt terrible about it. I heard him cry last night."

Hermione looked up. "He cried?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure he'll be waiting in the common room for you to get back."

Hermione's eyes opened wide. Harry would be waiting in the common room for her. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore. She stood up.

"Wait! I'll come with you." Neville said as he quickly finished his breakfast.

She turned back and took a few steps towards the exit. "Come one, Neville. Let's go."

She took a few more steps backwards and bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sor- What do you want, Malfoy."

Malfoy was grinning. "Oh, how sweet. You get dumped by lover boy and immediately you go to Longbottom for comfort."

"I'm warning you for the last time." She said as her voice began to rise.

"Aw, you don't have to put on a brave face for me, Granger. It's okay, you can cry on Longbottom's shoulder."

He started to laugh.

Hermione felt her hands tighten to fists. She saw Malfoy almost bending double with laughter. Suddenly it all seemed to move in slow-motion. She felt her arm pull back by itself and then she let it fly. She could feel his nose breaking under her knuckles.

When the noise of the crowd came back to her and time seemed to run normally again, she realised what she had done. Malfoy was on the floor, blood oozing from his nose and screaming like a piglet. Neville was tugging at her sleeve.

"Hermione." He urged. "Get out of here…go and talk to Harry before someone has the chance to put you in detention."

She nodded and ran out of the Hall, looking back only once to see Malfoy on the floor again. She raced through the corridors. She knew she should be worried about detention of loosing points, but all she could think of was Harry. She just had to hear from him that they were still together. That he still loved her.

She stopped at the portrait hole to catch her breath.

"Come on then dear, the password please."

Hermione nodded. "Periwinkle pastures."

The Fat Lady smiled and swung open to let her in.

She took a deep breath and walked inside. She could see Harry sitting on the couch, his back was to her. He seemed to be talking to someone, but she couldn't see who. She decided to tiptoe up behind him.

But as she came closer, she saw who he was talking to. Parvati. The moment Hermione wanted to open her mouth to say something, Parvati flung herself around Harry's neck. Hermione gasped, turned around and fled.

She stumbled out the portrait hole and fell to the floor. She was sobbing against the stone wall when someone helped her up. It was Neville.

"Hermione? What happened."

"Parvati happened!" she cried. "I walked in and she flew into his arms…he really…he did…he doesn't love me anymore."

Neville pulled her into a tight hug. "Shh…shh…calm down. He's blind, He doesn't deserve you. You deserve much better than that. How can he treat you like that if he loves you? Shh…"

She sobbed into his shoulder.

"You're too good for him." Neville said as he hugged her tightly. "And how can Parvati call herself your friend if she chases after him? No real friend could do that."

"What should I do, Neville?" she sobbed.

"Go talk to Ron. He'll choose your side, because he knows you are right and Harry's not. And if he doesn't….then I guess….I think Ron isn't your friend anymore either."

Hermione looked up, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "…I have to force him to pick sides? But why?"

"Because everyone should know what a slimy git Harry's been. And if Ron chooses your side, then everyone will know that. And as your friend he should stand by you. That's what friends do."

Hermione nodded slowly, sniffing her nose. "Will you…will you please tell Harry that I do still-"

She was cut off by the whoosh of the portrait hole opening. Harry climbed out.

"Hermione! Please! What you saw- Parvati, she-"

"I don't think Hermione wants to talk to you Harry." Neville said as he stepped in front of her protectively.

Harry snapped at him. "Oh, but she'll talk to you? Listen Neville, I need to talk to her. She needs to understand. Hermione, I beg you, please talk to me."

Hermione stared at him with teary eyes. Every fibre of her being wanted to fly to him, to listen to him say it's alright. She looked at Neville for less than a second. He looked back and shook his head.

Hermione looked at Harry again, her arms limp by her side. She felt her head shake. Harry's eyes were sparkling with tears.

"Hermione please." He said, his voice breaking.

He reached out, his hand begging her to take it. But she took a step back.

"Hermione, I-"

She took another step back, away from his teary face, feeling betrayed that he dared to cry after what she had just witnessed. Then she just turned around and ran.

"Hermione!" his arm fell to his side, tears burning in his eyes.

"You shouldn't have kissed Parvati, Harry. She's crying now. And Ron will be the one she'll turn to. Ron cares for her and she cares for him, she told me so herself. You hurt her really bad and Ron is the one who'll comfort her. You just messed up the one shot you had of getting back together with her."

Harry shook his head. "…no…she…I love her, Neville. I really do."

"But you're not the one she's run to for comfort. Ron is." Neville said as he slowly turned around. "Think about that, Harry."

Harry wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Hermione thought that he had let Parvati kiss him. Hermione thought he and Parvati were more than just friends. And Neville was right. Hermione was crying because of him and Ron would be the one to comfort her.

-

"Oh, it'll be alright…you know what he's like, he'd never do anything like that."

"How can you say that?" Hermione cried. "I saw them kissing and I saw Parvati flinging herself at him this morning. He didn't object or ward her off. He welcomed her into his arms!"

Ron looked hesitant. "Hermione…"

He couldn't bear seeing his friend like this. She was broken. He hugged her tightly. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for it. He loves you, Hermione. He loves you so much."

"How can he? How can he love me if he treats me like this?" she cried.

Ron patted her back awkwardly. "Just talk to him, give him another chance. I don't believe he really went behind your back with Parvati."

Hermione pulled away from the hug and stared at him. "Who's side are you on, Ron?"

"I'm on no one's side! I-"

"Harry hurts me and you still choose his side? You can't truly be my friend if you choose his side! I need you, Ron!"

He tried to hug her again, but she pushed him away. "No! You showed me who's friend you really are. Go on then, go back to Harry. I'm sure he'll be wondering where you are."

She stood up and ran away. Ron helplessly watched her leave. Why did he have the feeling that everything was slipping away from beneath his feet? He knew chasing Hermione wouldn't work. Right now she was beyond reason and she would curse him into oblivion.

He sighed.

He'd go and talk to Harry. Perhaps _he_ would make some sense.

* * *

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**Magic and Sparkle:** Well, Hermione does just think of Neville like a friend, she only meant well. And maybe you're right about Neville, or maybe not :P I'm not letting you in on the secret just yet. But it will be revealed soon, though, in one of the oncoming chapters. Glad you liked it.

**Heather**: I agree, Hermione's such a poor girl right now! She loves Harry and then all of this happens! But it's not Harry's fault either. He's still madly in love with Hermione…sad, isn't it…

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Jup, sometime's there's just not a guilty party in things like this. Poor Harry…poor Hermione…you're right. It's not the fault of either of them. And about Neville…well perhaps he did put something in Parvati's drink…perhaps he just wanted her to become drunk. But what the real truth about Parvati's assault is, is a secret for now. You'll find out eventually. But even though you're mad at Parvati, she did say she was sorry…can I plead for forgiveness here? Love you girl and I'm glad you still like the fic


	8. Snow

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter eight: Snow **

"Harry? Are you in there?"

An angry grunt told him he was.

"I'm coming in, okay?"

He pushed through the door and found Harry sitting on the ground, his back leaning against his bed. Ron sat down and looked at him.

"Harry…"

"She's got the wrong idea, Ron. She thinks me and Parvati…but it's not true! She saw Parvati hugging me, but that was because Parvati was so upset about last night. She thought Hermione was angry with her because of the Ball. And she just needed someone to talk to."

"I know what she saw. She told me." Ron said calmly.

Harry's head snapped up.

"What?" he asked icily.

"Hermione came to me. She was crying because of that hug, Harry. She thinks you don't love her anymore."

"So she came to you for comfort! And you didn't mind, did you? You thought this was your chance?"

Ron looked at him confused. "I have no idea what you mean. All I know is that she is hurt. She saw you two hugging and kissing. I know the kiss wasn't your fault, Harry, but you should've stayed away from Parvati for a while. For Hermione's sake."

Harry snapped up. "Who's side are you on? You're supposed to be my friend! But you chose her side! Some friend you are."

Now Ron jumped to his feet too. "You're crazy! I don't fancy Hermione, she's my friend! And I'm not on anyone's side, I just want you two to get back together because living in between you two like this is hell!"

"Sure, whatever Ron. But she ran to you for help. So why don't you just go back over there and take care of her again. I'm sure you'd do nothing more gladly!" Harry spat.

Ron was ready to pull his hair from his head. "For the last time, I don't fancy her! If I did then why would I have a date with Lavender?"

He groaned and closed his eyes, tilting his head backwards. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not yet. But Harry shook his head.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Fine, be that way! If you don't want to believe me, then fine. But just go and talk to Hermione for Merlin's sake! She loves you!"

He turned around and stormed out of the dormitory. Why would he never stop being such an idiotic stubborn git?

-

Hermione was crying intro her sleeve. She had come down to the library to do some work. But as she looked around her, it seemed that Hogwarts was suddenly drowning in happy couples. Everyone seemed to be with someone.

She had seen Harry around, of course. But he hadn't spoken to her in weeks. And Ron…she didn't know what to think of Ron. Every time she approached him to talk to him, he'd either make up and excuse not to talk to her or kept glancing over his shoulder in case Harry would come in.

The only time he had spoken to her briefly was yesterday evening in the common room. It had been empty except for them. But when she had confronted him with the fact that both he and Harry were avoiding her, he just looked away.

'_I'm sorry Hermione. It's not that easy for any of us. You love Harry and he loves you. But neither of you has the courage to go up and talk to the other. And both of you take it out on me!'_

She still remembered every word he had said.

She looked out the window. Autumn was definitely coming to an end. The trees were no longer carrying their leaves and in the mornings little frost crystals covered the windows. It looked so romantic, the couples walking hand in hand. She imagined Harry and herself walking like that. A few weeks ago it could've happened. But now it was as likely as Draco Malfoy becoming a Gryffindor.

She sighed and nearly started to cry again. She didn't need to look up when someone sat down beside her. Only Lavender and Neville talked to her now, and Lavender was busy with Ron most of the time

"…You can't keep this up, Hermione."

"Oh Neville, you know I'd do anything to get back with Harry. I love him so much. But he doesn't talk to me. No one does anymore."

She leaned against his shoulder and sobbed softly. He sighed and hugged her.

"I know, I know. But I'm serious. You don't go outside, you only come down for meals and classes and you don't even spend your evenings reading in the common room anymore. It's not healthy."

He let go of her and stood up.

"Come on." He said as he pulled her up from her chair. "I'm taking you for a walk. You need some fresh air, to bring a bit of colour back to your cheeks. You look like a ghost, you know."

She grinned through her teary expression. "You're right. I need some fresh air."

She pulled out her wand and summoned her cloak and scarf. Neville muttered the same spell, but only his cloak answered his call.

"I still don't have the hand of that spell." He said apologetically.

But Hermione smiled. "It's just a matter of concentration. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later."

He nodded. "Especially if you'll teach me."

She looked at him as he took her arm and lead her outside. "I? Teach?"

"Yeah! You're a great teacher, Hermione. I really made some progress thanks to you. And then you stopped…"

"I- I just wasn't up to it."

"I understand. But maybe teaching will be good for us both. I'll get a chance to improve and you'll be able to get your mind off things."

She looked away. The sun was bright, nearly blinding her. The wind was chilly and sent a shiver up her spine. She looked at the other people who were walking by. Everyone looked so happy. She wished to be one of them.

"Well, isn't this a sweet picture. I thought you two would end up together. The mudblood and the squib."

Hermoine sighed. Would he never stop this useless taunting?

"Listen Malfoy, wasn't breaking your nose once enough?" she said as she turned around to face him. "Do I have to do it again?"

"As if you could." He sneered. "That was just a lucky punch. Just as lucky as the fact that you didn't land your sorry little butt in detention."

"A lucky punch?" she laughed heartily.

Looking at the band-aid that covered his nose, she decided to put him straight.

"You don't have to worry about me breaking your nose…" she said, walking over to him and turning her voice softer.

"You know…" she said.

As she ran her finger up his neck, she could see him swallowing difficultly. She brought her face close to his ear. "You know…from up close…you still look the same old stuck up git you've always been."

Swiftly she pulled her knee up, kicking him where it hurt most. Malfoy groaned and fell to his knees, his hands reaching down and his face screwed up in agony.

"Stop bothering me if you ever want kids." She spat.

She turned around and left Malfoy to call for help. Neville stared at her, his jaw practically hitting the ground.

"Her- Hermione…" he gasped. "That's really…no one deserves that."

She shrugged. "He does."

She walked on and didn't look back. Malfoy would probably go to Snape to complain. And if he did, she'd probably get detention. But it had been worth seeing Malfoy moaning on the ground, on the verge of crying.

Neville caught up with her. "You scare me sometimes Hermione. You're not going to do that to me, are you?"

"Don't worry." She laughed. "I only do that to those who deserve it."

"Harry'd better stay out of your way then." He muttered darkly.

Hermione didn't hear him. Instead she looked up at the sky.

"Neville…look!"

Up there, snowflakes started falling down. She smiled and started to spin around in circles, her arms stretched out.

"It's snowing!" she skipped over to Neville and hugged him. "It's winter!"

"It's winter…" he repeated as he looked into her eyes.

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, swallowing difficultly and not breaking eye contact. She pushed him away and stepped back.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I-"

"…No, don't you start as well. We're friends, okay? Forget about it."

He nodded subdued.

She started to walk up to the castle again and he followed her after a slight hesitation.

"Will you still teach me?" he asked carefully.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. But only if you promise me you'll never do that again."

He stuck out his hand. "Deal."

She shook it and started to laugh. He looked relieved and joined her laughter.

She pointed at the castle. "I'll race you."

"You'll never beat me. You know I'm faster." He said as he stretched his leg.

She smiled deviously. 'Yeah, maybe. But I'm the one with a head-start. Bye!"

"Hey, not fair! Come back here!"

-

Harry was sitting in a chair, looking out the window. He wondered how long this no-talking-with-Hermione torment would go on. He missed her he saw her sometimes, in a classroom or at the House table. But she'd never look at him. And he couldn't help noticing that she had stopped coming down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Normally she just sneaked in, took a sandwich and left again. At breakfast she would be up even before the teachers, making sure she was alone. And at dinnertime she sat with Ginny and Neville at the other end of the table.

Sometimes she looked at him. But when he looked back at her and smiled, she'd look away. He looked outside again.

And now that the grounds were covered in a thick layer of snow he realised how long this had been going on.

The portrait hole swung open and Ron and Lavender came in, looking rather happy. They joined him at the window.

"Hey Harry." Ron said. "Have you talked to her yet?"

He shook his head. "She doesn't want me near her."

"But have you tried to? She's hoping you'll talk to her." Lavender said as she leaned against Ron, who put his arm around her shoulder.

"I try…but she just turns her head. She can't even smile at me anymore." Harry sighed. "It's useless."

"No it's not!" Ron said fiercely. "You go up and talk to her, tomorrow. Corner her if you have to. Just do it. You have to, before she leaves for Christmas."

Harry looked up. "She's leaving?"

"Haven't you seen the list? It's on the message board. Hermione signed to go home." Lavender said as she started to eat a piece of Christmas fudge.

"But she's never- she always stays, doesn't she?"

"Almost always." Ron muttered.

"Listen, I'm going up to bed. I'm tired. Try and get him to talk to her." Lavender whispered in Ron's ear before kissing him. "Goodnight. Goodnight Harry."

It was silent until the door to the girls' dormitory closed again.

"You have to. Please? Make peace, be friends again."

Harry nodded vaguely. "…You're right. But I don't feel ready to face her…"

"Well you'd better make yourself ready then. Because if you don't, I'll hex you. Now go and sign the list to stay here. I am. And so is Lavender."

Harry dutifully got up and signed the list. When he sat back down gain, Ron had his eyes closed, though he wasn't asleep.

"I saw Parvati signed up to leave as well. That's good."

Ron nodded. "Definitely. Can you imagine what Hermione would think if both of you stayed?

Harry shook his head. "How did I get into this mess?"

"Three words. Parvati drank alcohol. That's how. But I'll leave you to ponder that on your own. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Harry nodded again. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Ron got to his feet and walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Before he opened the door, he turned back. "And you'd better prepare what you're going to say to her. Because it needs to be thought about. You know how girls are, one word can make all the difference."

* * *

* * *

**AN:** Ack! Sorry it took me this long guys! I had a few things on my mind and a load of school stuff to take care of. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** I'm not telling you anything :P not because I don't like you, but because I'm not going to give away anything of what has yet to come. It's obvious that Neville likes Hermione, that's true. But I'm not going to tell you any more. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise

**Emma Barrows:** I'm really glad you like this story! And I want to thank you for reviewing 'Words that we couldn't say' as well. Oh, btw, I recommended you to one of my friends and she really loves your stories! I'll check out your updates really soon!

**Magic and Sparkle:** Well….Neville rather likes Hermione for himself…not for Ron. And Ron's got Lavender now. I never really set out to pair them up in this story, but it kinda just happened along the way. Anyway, glad you like it

I'll update a bit sooner this time. But You'll have to wait till Saturday though, because I'm in the school orchestra and we have this theatre production with the school's acting group called Julius Caesar and we've got three performances, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So I'll be a bit busy this week . Hope you all can hold out till then.


	9. Come, Christmastime

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter nine: Come, Christmastime **

Harry got up that morning feeling very nervous. He had spent most of the night thinking about what he was going to say to Hermione. But everything he had thought up was either pathetic or useless. He looked at Ron, who was still asleep in his bed, muttering to himself.

Harry got up and went into the bathroom. He looked into the mirror. His face was pale and tired. He wished he could look a bit more rested before facing Hermione, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

The clock struck half past seven and he quickly dressed so he could go downstairs. He sat down on a chair and decided to wait for Hermione to come down. She got up before most people but it couldn't be much earlier than this, could it?

In his head he went over the things he could say. But it all sounded like rubbish to him.

He looked up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs of the girls' dormitory. It was Parvati. She looked at him and then quickly headed out the portrait hole.

Harry thanked her silently. He couldn't imagine the horror if Hermione saw them together again. He looked outside, slowly growing more anxious.

People continued to head down for breakfast, but none of them was Hermione.

"Harry?"

He snapped up at his name. It was Ron.

"What are you doing, sitting there?"

"I'm waiting for Hermione…"

"Harry, she's already up. Her bed is empty." Said Lavender, who came down the stairs and greeted Ron. "She's not there anymore."

Harry cursed under his breath. How was he supposed to corner her if he wasn't even able to find her?

"Are you coming with us?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "I'll be with you in a moment. You two just go on down."

He stood up and walked towards the mirror slowly. He really looked tired. And for nothing too. Hermione had gotten up so early that she probably hadn't even gone to bed.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. There was not much left for him to do here, he could go down to the Great hall. He decided to walk slowly. Hermione was probably gone anyway and he didn't really look forward to sitting next to Ron and Lavender playing the happy couple.

He let out a loud sigh. Life used to be good and easy. Well, _easier_, at any rate. Love was something that was able to complicate everything and it seemed to enjoy doing so.

He leaned against a door and watched the painting on the opposite wall. A few old wizards were playing cards. The one in the purple hat was definitely cheating. He looked at Harry and winked. Harry winked back.

He chuckled, wondering what life as a painting would be like.

'Probably easy but dull. How exciting could-'

He was interrupted in mid-thought. He thought he'd heard something behind the door he was leaning against. He listened more closely. He could hear two voices.

"Listen, I'm tired of having to listen to your complaints! I've had it up till here!"

"But I'm the one who has to report back. I don't think our master would approve of your methods."

"Then our master would best not be told. It's working, isn't it? What I do is effective, so stop complaining when you have no reason to."

"He is getting impatient. You'd better hurry up."

"Don't worry, Malfoy. Everything is under control. Come Christmastime you will have your precious captive."

Harry pressed his ear against the door, wanting to hear more. Malfoy was in there, this was definitely not good. Someone was planning to-

"POTTER! What are you doing here?"

Harry jumped up. Filch was towering over him.

"Trying to sneak into the Trophy-room, are you?"

Harry gave himself a good mental kick. Filch was very protective of his trophy-room, always thinking students were out to steal something.

"N-No sir, I- I was just…er…tying my shoelaces. Ask the painting!"

He crossed his fingers, hoping the painting would help him out.

The man in the purple hat turned away from the now empty card table and looked at Filch with a friendly glance. He nodded politely to Harry.

"Yes, this fine young lad did do nothing wrong. Just tying his shoelaces as he said."

Filch grunted and stalked away. Harry sighed with relief and looked at the painting.

"Why did you help me?"

"Well…I thought I owed it to you. After all, you said nothing to my fellow card players about the card I had up my sleeve. You just run along now."

"Thank you!" he shouted over his shoulder as he started to run. He had head the school clock strike eight times. He needed to hurry up for breakfast. Besides, he wanted to talk to Ron about what he had heard.

-

"Just two days before I go away…and he still hasn't talked to me…" Hermione sighed sadly.

Ginny laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ron promised to talk to him and he said he had. So Harry will come and talk to you."

"You think he will?"

She hoped he would. She could get through the day without crying, but she still missed him. She looked up as Neville sat down beside her on the ground.

"You're late…" she said.

"Yeah, sorry. I ran into Ron. He asked me how you were doing, so I ended up talking to him."

"It's okay. Now, where were we? Summoning charms, right? Try and summon….Ginny's book bag."

"Hey!" Ginny shouted indignantly. "I need that! Class starts in five minutes!"

"Relax, it's not as if he'll set fire to it." Hermione assured Ginny.

But Ginny stood up. "Use your own book bag if you want to practise before class, but I suggest you go back to late night sessions."

Neville and Hermione watched her march away with her book bag clutched under her arm.

"Oh well…I guess she's right about the bag. But I'm not going back to teaching you at night. I still need my sleep."

Neville nodded. He took out his wand and pointed it at her book bag. But just as he wanted to shout the charm, the school bell rang. He and Hermione stood up and waited for the rest of the class to show up for their Transfiguration lesson.

Ron and Lavender showed up together, looking their happy selves. Ron walked over to Neville and Hermione. He took Neville by his arm and pulled him away from the group.

"Good morning Neville."

"Good morning…"

"I wondered if you could do me a favour."

Neville nodded.

"Sit next to Parvati all day."

"Why?"

"Because Lavender and I will sit together and this way we're forcing Hermione and Harry to sit together. If they don't go and talk to each other, then we'll have to help them along a bit."

Neville nodded slowly. "…Sure…"

Both boys walked back to the group. Ron stuck up his thumb to Lavender, who nodded. They looked up when Harry came running at them.

"Hey! Where were you at breakfast?" Ron inquired.

Harry grabbed his sleeve. "I've _got_ to talk to you Ron. You have to know what I just heard. I heard Malf-"

"Shh! Here comes McGonagall." Ron hissed.

McGonagall gave them a stern look before she opened the classroom door. Ron quickly took Lavender's hand and dragged her inside. Hermione dutifully followed them inside and sat down at a table, expecting Neville to take the seat next to her.

But Neville sat down a few seats behind her, next to Parvati. She looked at him with a questioning stare, but he just shrugged. She looked up when she heard a modest cough. She stared straight up at Harry.

"It seems all the other places have been taken. Can I sit here?"

She nodded silently and started to unpack her books. Harry did the same. He could feel they eyes of their classmates burning in his back. He turned to Hermione.

"Hermione…I-"

"Don't Harry. You'll apologise and I'll forgive you. But then what? You'll let Parvati kiss you again?" she whispered silently.

"No! I'd never do that. I love you, remember?"

She put her quill down and looked at him. "No, I don't remember, Harry. How can I when I'm always afraid you'll do something behind my back? I don't know if I can trust you again."

Harry sighed. She was right, it was all his fault. He took her hand.

"I love you, Hermione. Only you. You've got to believe me."

"I do…and I love you too. But I lost my trust in you. I just don't have that faith in you I had before."

He looked up and saw that everyone was trying to listen in on their conversation. He turned back to Hermione and lowered his voice.

"But…if you still love me too, then can't we try? Can't we at least try and rebuild that trust?"

She hesitated.

"Please Hermione, I beg you. I'd do anything for another chance."

She nodded her head. "…Okay…I- I want to try."

She looked at him. He could feel how awkward this situation was for her, as it was just as awkward for him. This was the big moment in the movies, where the couple was reunited and kissed again. But kissing Hermione now felt so wrong. So he stretched out his arms and hugged her.

He could feel her sobbing into his shoulder.

"It's okay…it's okay." He whispered.

The class didn't applaud or whoop, so Harry expected Ron had told them to back off. When Hermione pulled back from the hug and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, Harry smiled at her. She smiled back and turned to the blackboard.

Harry looked back and looked at Ron. He had a small smile on his face that seemed to say 'good'. Harry smiled thankfully at him. Hermione was finally back on speaking terms with him, they were friends again. And maybe…after she came back from her holiday…they could start to rebuild what they'd had before.

-

"So…you're leaving tomorrow morning?" he asked carefully.

She nodded. "Yes. I packed almost everything."

"Oh, good."

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them.

"Listen, Harry. I just wanted to say, that I'm very happy that you and me are…you know."

Harry nodded. "I know, me too."

He hugged her. "What time does the train leave?"

"Really early. But please…don't come. It would make things more difficult. And we need to start all over again. So, when I get back, you and I will start over with a clean slate."

Harry nodded. "Okay, I guess… I guess I'll see you…after the holidays then…"

"…Yeah…"

Harry leaned in and quickly pecked her cheek. She blushed.

"Are you going to bed?" he asked.

"No. I have some last minute packing to do. And I promised Neville I'd have a talk with him here in the common room. So I'll just wait for him."

"Oh…well, goodnight then…see you in a few weeks…"

She nodded and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you around Harry."

She watched him walk up the stairs. When she was alone again, she sighed with relief. It would be alright. She just needed some time alone and then, with a little bit of effort, they could be alright again.

She sat down in a chair near the fireplace and took a book from her bag. She didn't really read, she just looked at the words with a foggy expression on her face.

She was startled when she heard a noise coming from the fireplace. The light had turned green and a head was in it. Neville's.

"Neville!" she said confused.

"H-Hermione…please…help me…"

She jumped up. "Neville? What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I- They got me…please…help!"

She fell down on her knees in front of the fire. She reached out to touch his face, but suddenly it was gone. Instead she was looking at the face of Lucius Malfoy.

"I'm afraid Longbottom is unavailable at the moment. Can I be of service?"

His smirk made her shiver.

"You're the foulest being I know Malfoy…" she spat.

Malfoy just kept smirking. "Are you prepared to listen to me? Because I have a deal you'll be very keen to hear. And I don't bargain."

* * *

* * *

Oo, cliffy! I'm really curious to see what you all think about this :P

**Magic and Sparkle:** you noticed the Neville/Hermione-ship? Well, one sided ship that is…and the main problem of this fic is the relationship between Harry and Hermione, so that'll be the focus. But I'm rather sure no one has a clue of what I've got in store for you all :) I hope you liked the chapter. Oh, before I forget, I've got a question. What does 'ttfn' mean? Anywawy, thanks for reviewing!

**Emma Barrows:** I like these new developments in Ominix. I really like the idea of Sirius liking Hillary after everything that happened to them. Though I must admit that I thought you were going to pair him up with Lily at first. Anyway, I like the story :) and I'm really glad you like mine!

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Ack! Duck, Hermione, duck! Not the hogedrukpan! I hope this chapter made up for her behaviour a little…the next one probably will. I hope… And what you said about her being naïve and paranoid and overreacting…it's all true, but I kinda thought she was entitled to all that. I mean, I'd be pretty paranoid if I saw my bf snogging some other girl and then comfort her a day later. It'd make me think all kinds of things that perhaps don't make sense. I tried to write that 7th chapter from how I thought a combination of me and her would react. Sounds silly, eh… Anyway, I hope this chapter made up for her (and mine) behaviour. I'm sorry ma'am , it won't happen again :P….well…perhaps it will, that's for you to decide :D:P I can't judge my own writing like that . Anyway, glad you liked it and I hope you like what's to come as well. I think that you'll be quite surprised…and you won't be needing those seven hells. One will suffice

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** Me? Taking advantage of how much you like the story? I wouldn't dare :P haha, what I mean to say is that I'm glad you like this story so much. I'll have sympathy, just because of your nice review Though I must say I hope that I didn't make the cliff-hanger of this story too…well, cliffy. Because I wouldn't want to lose a nice reviewer like you! (About Neville….everything does seem to go wrong when he's there, doesn't it? And now he's in trouble…poor him…or not?)

Ah, another chapter posted. I'm so happy and I don't know why. It's finally becoming more like spring, that's probably it. But my exams are drawing nearer and_today_ I've got my karate exam for the brown belt. It's been postponed and postponed and postponed, but now the day has finally come…and I'm NERVOUS.

I found out today that I only have about two or three days of real schooldays left and I'm also nervous because of my auditions which are also drawing nearer…Pfft…sometimes I think I've got too many things to do and I like them all (except for my exams of course :P)

I hope to see you all at the next chapter. Baibai!  
-Raven55


	10. Cloaks and Lists

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter ten: Cloaks and Lists **

Hermione stared at his cold and evil face.

"What is it you want! Why did you take Neville!"

"Longbottom here…he's of no real use to me. But you, Granger, are someone I'd like to have a face to face chat with."

"You're disgusting."

"Sticks and stones…But let us get down to business. You want no harm to befall your friend, am I right?"

She nodded, barely able to keep her anger inside.

"But I find no real use for him. So it won't matter to me if I kill him."

"No!" she shrieked.

He was going to kill Neville. That lowlife was going to kill Neville. She could hear his shrieks in the background.

"Please don't hurt him…I'll do anything…"

Malfoy smirked. "Good. Your freedom for his. I want you to come to me, or I will kill him. Do you understand?"

She nodded subdued.

"Well then, step into the fire. Do it. Now!"

She slowly got to her feet. She had to do this, or Neville would die. She could not let him die. She could not have his death on her conscience. She had to do it.

She took one step into the fire and felt the flames licking her leg. It didn't burn her, it just tickled. But she had no energy to giggle. She took the second step and a spinning sensation surrounded her. She was spinning and spinning around and then she hit a stone floor.

She stood up, keeping her head high. She was a prisoner of the Death Eaters now, a prisoner of Voldemort. But she would never let them break her.

"Well, well now…the Mudblood had some pride…but we'll knock that out of her soon enough. Take her downstairs. Let's see how tough she really is."

* * *

"Did you say goodbye to her?" Ron asked as he sat down next to Harry at the breakfast table. 

Harry shook his head. "No. She didn't want me to. But we talked last night. I think…I think we'll be alright."

"Yeah. And now everyone will be able to enjoy the holidays. Want to go out and play some Quidditch?"

Harry nodded slowly.

"Come on, let's see how fast you can catch that snitch. You've got to beat Malfoy at the next game." Ron urged.

Harry's eyes opened wide. "Ron! I forgot all about it! Malfoy! I heard him talk to someone…they were talking about Voldemort!"

Ron dropped his book. "What? Who was the other one?"

"I- I don't know. But they were talking about…taking someone prisoner. Someone's in danger!"

"Well, think Harry! Who was the other one? Who were they talking about?"

Harry shook his head. "He didn't say…all he said was 'Come Christmastime, you'll have your captive'. That's all…and he said Malfoy's name, because that's why I recognised him."

Ron looked pensive. "They could be after anyone…anyone who's not in Slytherin, that is. But who…"

Harry jumped up. "Wait here."

He ran off and came back with a piece of parchment in his hands.

"This is the list of people who signed up to stay. We could start to check if they're all here…"

Ron nodded. "Give me a copy. And hand one to Ginny as well. We'll be done sooner if we split up."

Harry nodded and gave Ron two sheets of parchment. "I'll see you at lunch. And bring Ginny with you."

He watched Ron leave. He couldn't help but think that the one Malfoy and the other had meant was one of the people who had signed up to go home. Maybe…maybe it was Hermione they were after. After all, she was one of the people who had defied Voldemort more than once.

He sighed. He shouldn't have let her go home. She could be in danger now. He took another look at the parchment. The only thing he could do now was go round and see if the list was complete. After all, if it wasn't, then Hermione was safe.

He took his quill and looked around the common room. There were two people in the corner, he knew their names vaguely and crossed them off the list. The boys' dormitory was empty, he had already checked that. Ginny would have to do the girls'.

He walked out the portrait hole and looked around. He crossed another five names off the list as a group of fifth years passed him by.

* * *

She closed her eyes. Pain would not be enough to break her. She spat on the ground and opened her eyes again. 

"What do you want from me." She hissed.

The masked face in front of her moved away, its dark cloak swishing and she found herself staring at the tip of a wand once more.

"The Dark Lord wants you to join us, little girl."

"Never!" She struggled to free her hands. "I'll never join you!"

She was numbed for a second as she suddenly felt a hand striking her face.

"Very well, take her back."

Two hands raised her by her arms and pushed her out the door.

"You people can try all you like, but I will _never_ join you."

Another hand hit her, this time it was a fist in her stomach.

"Keep moving Mudblood."

She looked at the ground. She stopped before a door. When it opened, she was pushed in. She fell to the floor.

"Where's Neville!" she shouted." Let him go!"

The man behind the mask chuckled and left her on her own. She almost started to cry, but she forced her tears back. She would not let them see her with tears.

She stood up and found her way to the wall. It was made of stone and when she touched it, she noticed that it was moist.

'I must be under ground.' She thought.

There was no window and the corridors had been lighted with torches. She snapped around when the door opened again. A figure stood in the opening, his head hidden under a hooded cloak.

She stepped back and felt she stood against the wall. She had never felt so trapped before in her life.

The figure stepped in and the door closed behind him.

"Welcome…" he said.

She gasped.

* * *

Ron sat down at the lunch table. In his pocket he had his quill and the parchment. All morning he had spent walking around, checking names off the list. So far he still had a few names to go. 

Ginny joined him soon enough.

"Hey. Phew, I'm tired." She said. "What's for lunch?"

Ron shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Did you check everyone on the list?"

She shook her head as she started to pile food onto her plate. "Nope. I've got a few I haven't seen around yet. Where's Harry anyway?"

"I'm here." Said a voice from behind her. "Let's get down to business."

He sat down and took out his list. "I haven't seen Dennis Creevey around."

"I have." Ginny said.

"So have I." Ron said. "He was out by the lake with his usual bunch."

One by one the names on the list got crossed out. If one of them hadn't seen someone, then one of the others had. At the end, only one name hadn't been crossed out.

They stared at it.

* * *

Her heart was beating twice as fast and her breath got stuck in her throat. She clasped her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. This could not be true. 

He lifted his eyes from the ground and looked at her.

"I see this is not what you expected."

"…no…how…how could you…"

He laughed. It was a cold chuckle and the fact that it reached his eyes made it even more frightening.

"Oh please Hermione. You didn't even suspect it one? I thought you were supposed to be so damn smart!"

"I helped you!" she shouted. "I helped you, stuck up for you, I fought with Harry because of you!"

He took the hood off his head. She knew there could be no mistake anymore. Neville Longbottom was a Death Eater.

"Neville…"

"It was my duty all along. I was sent to Hogwarts to become friends with Harry Potter. But you and Ron came along and prevented my 'close' friendship with him. So I had to bide my time. I pretended to be stupid, to be a klutz. And it worked. You all thought I was incapable of doing anything right."

"But…but why?"

"I'll tell you why. They tortured my parents because they were in your precious Order. They were tortured. But they wouldn't speak. Thos stupid muggle-loving-"

"No!"

Hermione fell to her knees. "How can you say those things?"

"Those fools didn't realise the possibilities you have when you join the Dark Lord. They'd rather die than betray muggle-lovers like themselves. And look what happened to them. Every time my grandmother takes me to see them, I am reminded of their stupidity. I have no intention of ending up like them and I'll never do what they did. No, I embraced the power of the Dark Lord a long time ago."

He pulled his cloak tighter around him.

"You see, I hate muggles and muggle-lovers because my parents ended up insane in an attempt to protect them. They are not worth the trouble. I saw that even when I was just a little boy."

Hermione pulled her knees up to her chin.

"How could you." She whispered. "Your parents were two of the bravest people ever alive…they gave their sanity….how can you betray them this way?"

"I know you feel I should hate the Dark Lord's followers for doing this to my family, but I thank them. They showed me the light. They showed me that pureblood strength, the Dark Lord's strength, is the true strength. It's a path in life and it's the right one. My parents could not see that. So I feel they betrayed me more than I did them."

Hermione felt tears rolling down her cheeks. Neville sat down on his knees in front of her. He stuck out his hand to wipe away her tears, but she pushed him away.

"Don't touch me…" she whispered.

"When I saw how close you and Harry had become, it was only natural for me to try and use that bond. So I decided to bring you here…I want to show you the light. I want you to see it as well."

He brought his face a little closer.

"Embrace this destiny, it is your only salvation right now. Become one of us and bring down those weaklings."

"I _am_ one of those weaklings." She whispered. "I am one of those you wish to kill. Why did you choose me. Why…"

Neville laughed softly and put his hand in her neck. "You're smart. You're beautiful. You're someone we can use…and you are special, because you are so close to him. You can help us finish something that started fifteen years ago."

He pressed his lips roughly against hers. She screamed and pushed him away.

"Are you insane?" she shouted. "Do you really think I'll join your army? Are you really that messed up?"

Neville chuckled. "Oh dear, still not convinced, I see."

He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. "But we'll make you a princess of darkness yet. I'll see you soon, Hermione."

She screamed and launched herself at him.

"Movementus Impedus!" he yelled.

Her feet were glued to the ground. She couldn't move another step and her muscles seemed to freeze stiff.

He twirled his wand between his fingers and laughed. "Oh, and I'll tell you this, your lessons were pretty pointless. Amusing, but useless for someone like me…It's hard to have to pretend you're stupid when you're the best student there."

He waved and left the dungeon. She tried to move her feet, but it was impossible. She would have to wait for it to wear off. She felt tears coming back up and this time she let them burn. Her world was falling to pieces and everything she had known to be true seemed to have lied to her.

* * *

"But why would they want Neville?" Ginny wondered. 

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. But maybe we should warn someone."

"But who? Dumbledore won't be able to do anything…We don't even know where they've taken him."

"Or _if_ they've taken Neville." Ron said. "He might've changed his mind about staying here for Christmas. I mean, no offence, but if I were to kidnap someone, it wouldn't be Neville."

"Harry, I think Ron is right. Who would want to kidnap him? And besides, what can we do? We don't even know if it's true, where he might be or what to do. It's pointless." Ginny said quietly.

"Let's write him a letter. If he responds he's alright."

Harry nodded. "…I guess they might've been after someone else, someone off the list…"

Ginny took out a fresh roll of parchment and her quill. "Here, why don't you do it now?"

Hesitantly, Harry took the quill.

* * *

"Listen to me Hermione. Joining us is your only chance." Neville said. "They'll kill you if you don't." 

"Then kill me." She spat. "I'd rather die than become what you have."

Neville tutted. "Dear, dear. You used to be so kind to me. I wonder what happened. Why won't you talk to me like you did before? Oh, wait…it's the cloak and mask."

He took off his mask and laid it on the table. He folded his cloak and placed it next to the mask. Hermione looked at him, his faded t-shirt seemed less worn-out in this darkened room. On his arm she could see the sign that marked him as a Death Eater.

'The sign he got the day he sold his soul.' She thought bitterly.

She looked away when Neville sat down in a comfortable chair across the room.

"I know you're not afraid to die." He said. "But killing you would be such a waste. No, we can't kill you, not now. But I need you to agree with me. I need you to pledge your loyalty to my master. So, if I can't do that by threatening your own life, maybe I should threaten someone else's."

He grinned.

"Seeing as how I already showed you my real nature, I can't use myself as bait again…but how about someone too young to be guilty of anything. How about that adoring little cousin of yours. Paul?"

"No!" she screamed. "No! You evil…lowlife-"

Neville clapped his hands and the door opened. A tall, cloaked man came in, holding the hand of a little boy. Tears started to burn in her eyes.

"Mione!" the boy said excitedly.

Neville took the little boy and sat him on his lap. "Hey Paullie. Did you have a nice time?"

Paul nodded.

"Do you like it here?"

Paul nodded again.

Neville pulled a bag of candy from his pocket. "There you go, a nice sugar quill."

Paul took it and jumped off Neville's lap.

"Go with that nice man, okay? He'll play with you."

Paul waved to Hermione excitedly and then left with the man, happily sucking the sugar quill. Neville laughed.

"What an adorable little cousin you have, _'Mione_'. A real little angel. I'm really quite jealous."

"You bastard…" she hissed.

"I didn't hurt him. He's been taken really good care of. But you don't wan that to change, do you?"

Hermione hung her head. Innocent little Paul. The poor boy had nothing to do with it and Neville as using him. She looked at Neville. Suddenly she saw him for what he had really been all those years. A scheming traitor. And a cold-blooded murderer. He would kill a three year old boy if he needed to.

Neville clapped his hands again and two men came in. One with a sharpened wand and the other with a bowl of water and a cloth.

When the wand touched her skin she screamed in pain. Neville nodded.

"There's no turning back."

* * *

**

* * *

Emma Barrows: I'm reading Ominix eagerly. And as soon as I've got more time on my hands I will read Silver Lining too. I'm just a bit busy lately…but that'll soon calm down. Thanks for the review :D**

**HP-Scriptor:** Thank you very much for the review. I know the first chapter was rather usual, but that was the way I had intended it. This story is _my_ version of their sixth year and I tried to write it a bit in Rowling's style, including the sorting hat's song, the train trip and all of those usual things. I also used Halloween and Christmas as two special moments in the school year to let the readers know how far along the story _is_, if you understand what I'm trying to say here. Anyway, I am also very honoured and flattered that you invited me to join Sonora Acadamy. Perhaps I will, though I am very busy with school lately (exams, you know) But I will definitely join if I have enough time. Thank you very much for the review.

**Magic and Sparkle:** Ahhhh Neville is not wizardnapped, he's a mean little bugger himself! Am I confusing you? I'm sure this wasn't quite what you were expecting. Thank you for the review, for the explanation and…ttfn!

**surfgirl:** well, I hope you liked this chapter as well. Thank you for reviewing Surfgirl!

**BlueEyedSoccaBabe: **Well, I'm not saying if your guess is right or wring, it might spoil the surprise if you're right and also if you're wrong. But I'm glad you reviewed. The more the merrier!

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Phew, you-sa like better :D I'm glad. And you know what…I CAN'T WAIT TO COME VISIT YOU! I've been hyper all day and I'm gonna send you my parents' emails asap, mkay? This is going to be G R E A T. I can't wait!

Ah, my tenth chapter done. To finish today's post I'd like to add some more happy news; I am as of Friday a girl with the BROWN belt in karate! W00t! And tomorrow I'll be in Utrecht, auditioning for the acting school there. I'll keep all of you posted on how that ends. I'll stop here, and…ttfn! (**Magic and Sparkle**, I think your habits are rubbing off on me:D)

Raven55


	11. Back at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter eleven: Back at Hogwarts **

"How did you do it…" she whispered. "Someone must've helped you…Malfoy-"

"Malfoy is a worthless piece of shit." Neville snapped. "A mere messenger boy. He couldn't even annoy you anymore. I did it all by myself."

"…You were sent to split us up…"

"I was sent to bring down Harry Potter. And that's what I'll do."

"How."

Neville stepped closer and brought his mouth up to her ear. "With you."

She pushed him away. He smirked.

"I already succeeded in making a rift between the three of you. Ron, Harry and you."

She shook her head. "What?"

"Oh, come off it Hermione. I was the one who got Parvati drunk at Halloween. I used the Imperius curse on her to make her kiss him. I told her you blamed her, I made sure you'd walk in on her hugging Harry. I got you and Harry to fight over Ron, that was all me Hermione! I made sure to spend all that time with you so Harry would get jealous. I did all that."

She looked away. All the problems she's had this year were all his fault. Not hers and not Harry's.

"But why…"

"To make him vulnerable." Neville said coldly. "At first I thought it would be best to drive the three of you away from each other, so that he would be all alone and helpless when the time came…but then I realised that he was already a vulnerable person _because_ his friends were around. All this time I had tried to get closer to him by driving you away, while the answer had been there all along. If I wanted to bring him down, I simply needed to use the bond that made him strong. Make one link of the chain weak and the chain breaks, right? _You_ are that link. I can bring him down with you."

"But what about Malfoy…"

He's nothing. He hasn't become an elite yet. But his eagerness to mock you came in very handy. It made him a very convincing bad boy. But in truth, he's worthless. Even you are in a higher rank than he is."

Hermione looked at the ceiling. "Me? A Mudblood? Higher ranked than the son of a pureblood Malfoy?"

Neville stroked her cheek with a finger. "No, not a Mudblood. Our princess."

She shrugged his hand off. "Don't call me that."

"Oh, but I call you by the name you deserve."

"I am not-"

"Oh, but you will be. You'll become our princess in time."

He stood up and walked to the fireplace. "I have a letter here, from your dear friends."

She reached out and wanted to grab it, but he turned around.

"It's addressed to me."

He cleared his throat. "Hey Neville. I wanted to apologise for my behaviour lately. I have been very rude and I had not right to be. It was mostly because of the problems between Hermione and me, but we talked and we agreed that we would work it all out. I hope you'll have a nice holiday and I'll see you soon. Bye, Harry."

Neville looked up. "Ah, how nice. He wants me to have a nice holiday."

"Don't patronise him…he's a sweet person." Hermione said as she stared out the window.

The ground was covered in snow and she longed to run outside. But she knew she had to stay here. She wasn't allowed. They were too much afraid she's run away.

"Don't forget what I told you, Hermione. Don't even think for a moment you can walk away. It's too late now."

He strode over to her and grabbed her arm, pressing his thumb on the already burning mark on the inside of her arm.

"You think that Harry or Ron want you back when they see this?"

She pulled her arm back. "…You're hurting me…"

Neville sighed. "Just…think about Paul and everything will be fine."

* * *

"So…holidays are nearly over…everyone's returning." Ron said eagerly. "How are you looking forward to seeing Hermione again." 

"I hope she got my present."

He had bought her a silver necklace. After seeing her at the Halloween Ball with one, he had noticed how good silver looked on her.

Ron chuckled. "Still head over heels?"

"But we have to start all over again. I know she'll have trouble trusting me, but I'll do the best I can."

Ron laid a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Harry. You'll do fine. She's our friend and I'm sure she's been wanting to see you all holiday."

Harry smiled. "Well, I sure missed her. Oh, by the way. Did you read Neville's letter?"

Ron shook his head. "No, when did it come?"

"Oh, a week ago…I thought I had told you about it. It doesn't say anything interesting, just that he's okay."

Ron nodded. "Well, I'm going downstairs. Lavender and I are going to Hogsmeade together."

Harry grinned. "Still the happy couple? You big old romantic sod."

"Oi!" Ron said indignantly. "You're one to talk. You sent Hermione a silver necklace for Christmas."

"Yeah, yeah…I know…anyway, you'd better get going. You don't want to keep your girlfriend waiting." Harry said with a grin.

Ron shook his head and left the boys' dormitory. Harry looked out the window. He couldn't wait for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. He just couldn't help thinking back to the evening before Hermione had left.

'_Listen, Harry. I just want to say that I'm very happy that you and me are…you know.'_

Her voice still echoed through his mind. He had received a Christmas present form her. A photo frame with a picture of him and her. Hew couldn't help thinking that it was a sign that she really wanted to get back together with him.

'_So, when I get back, you and I will start over with a clean slate.'_

He smiled. It had been on the card too. Suddenly the door flew open.

"Harry! Hurry up! The train is here!"

He jumped up and grasped his cloak and scarf on his way out. Ron and Lavender were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, scarfed and cloaked as well.

"Come on, we saw it rolling into the station on our way up to Hogsmeade. Hurry up!"

They started to run and made their way to the Great Hall as fast as they could. As they ran down the steps, they saw the carriages come closer. Harry stood on tip-toe to see which carriage was bringing Hermione.

The doors opened and a flow of people made its way up the steps. Harry stared around nervously. He couldn't see her anywhere.

"Harry!"

He turned around and there she was. She was smiling broadly.

"I'm so happy to see you again." she flew into his arms and hugged him tightly.

He closed his eyes contently. It had been definitely worth the wait.

"I'm glad you're back." He whispered. "I missed you."

"I- I missed you too." she said, a slight blush on her face.

She let him go and turned to Ron. "Good to see you again, Ron. Real good."

She hugged him tightly as well. When she let him go, she winked.

"I'd best not hug you too long. Your girlfriend might get jealous."

They all laughed.

"Don't worry Hermione. I know you've got your mind set on someone else." Lavender said with a smile. "Let's all go inside before we freeze stuck to the pavement."

Hermione took off her scarf and looked at the sky. "It's not that cold anymore…it doesn't snow…"

"You're not cold?"

She shook her head. "It's not as cold as I remember."

Harry chuckled. "You sound as if you haven't been outside for over a month!"

She started to laugh. "Don't be silly. That would be ridiculous."

She took Harry's hand and walked inside. Harry smiled at her and entangled his hand with hers, hoping she'd turn her head and smile. But she stared at the floor.

She felt his eyes burning and looked up. Quickly she gave him a smile and stared at the floor again. The inside of her arm was burning.

Behind her she could hear Ron whispering to Lavender. She looked over her shoulder.

"What are you to being so secretive about?"

Ron chuckled. "A little paranoid, Hermione? I was just commenting how 'perfect' you two look together. That's all."

Hermione felt blood rush to her face. "Oh…"

"And," said Lavender, "I was saying how glad I was to see you two getting along again."

Hermione looked at their smiles and she couldn't help smiling herself. They all looked so happy. Especially Harry.

"I missed you all so much…" she said. "The Christmas holiday felt just like a big nightmare. I felt all alone."

Harry hugged her and looked into her eyes. "Hermione, you'll never be alone. Never."

She smiled sadly. "…If you say so…"

She turned away to hide her tears from them. She loved him so much. She loved them all so much. And they loved her so much that she'd never have to be alone. Then why did she feel so lonely right now?

"Hey guys."

Her blood turned cold. Forcing a smile on her face, she turned around.

"Hey Neville. How was your holiday?"

"Oh, alright." He said, shrugging. "I visited my parents again…"

He opened his hand and showed them a candy wrapper. Hermione knew she ought to feel sad for him. But why should she. She didn't even understand why he kept the wrapper, they didn't mean anything to him, did they?

'They're still his parents.' She thought. 'He may hate what they stood and fought for, but they're still his parents. No one can truly hate their family, can they?'

She shook her head. She did not want not think about it anymore.

She looked up and noticed that she had followed the others into the common room. Ron and Lavender seated themselves on the couch and Neville took the remaining seat. Harry sat down in a chair. Hermione looked around, feeling a bit helpless. She didn't know if she should take a seat on the floor or sit down on the arm of Harry's chair.

But before she could make a decision, Harry had pulled her onto his lap.

"Hey everyone!" Ginny had entered through the portrait hole and had spotted them sitting comfortably.

She sat down on the arm of the couch, next to Neville.

"So…everyone happy…and…" she looked at Harry and Hermione meaningfully.

Ron laughed. "Ginny, when are you going to learn that you shouldn't be so nosy. One day you'll be sorry. "

She smiled. "Oh, I can't help it. It's in my genes."

Lavender laughed heartily. When Ron gave her a hurt look, she snorted.

"I'm sorry Ron, but what she says makes sense. You're both terribly nosy…George and Fred were nosy…even Percy was nosy!"

"Fred and George weren't nosy…they were inventive." Ron said huffily.

Hermione grinned. "Ron, they were nosy. Just look at some of their inventions. Extendable Ears?"

Now everyone started to laugh. Everyone had heard a few stories about the famous Extendible Ears. And now that they were available at Weasleys Wizarding Weezes, more stories went round every day.

They were talking until it had gone dark outside. Hermione had produced a book from her bag and once Ron and Lavender had gone up, she had curled up on the couch. Harry sat next to her, his arm around her shoulders.

He was enjoying having her back. And it surprised him how close she let him get. But he hadn't kissed her yet and he thought it best to wait with that.

He stood up. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

She looked up and smiled. "Okay, sleep tight."

He grinned and bit his lip. "I'll dream of you."

He closed his eyes. 'I should not have said that.'

She blushed. "You're so sweet."

She stood up and gave him a soft peck on his cheek. "Goodnight Harry."

She knew he was gong red an looked at the ground. She sat down and didn't look up when she heard him walk up the stairs slowly. She listened to the door closing and took a deep breath.

She knew she had missed him, but seeing him today had made her realise exactly how much she had missed him.

She was startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Nice work today, princess."

She shrugged off his hand and jumped to her feet. Tears were stinging in her eyes.

"Stay away from me…"

He chuckled. "You seemed so happy today, I almost believed you really were glad to be back with him."

She looked at him unbelievingly. She gave him a forceful push and didn't wait to hear him fall to the floor. She was up in her dormitory before Neville had the chance to get back on his feet.

She hid behind the curtains of her bed. Sobbing silently, she changed into her nightdress. She winced as the soft fabric caressed her arm. She looked at the black skull depicted on the inside of her arm. It was still burning.

She hid her face in her pillow. "I'm so sorry…"

* * *

* * *

Unfortunately I don't have time to thank all the reviewers individually, because Internet doesn't work at home and I have to post this at school, but anyway; THANK YOU ALL and I'll thank you personally at the next chapter: PROMISED

Right…sorry it took so long to post this, but I had some problems with Internet the last few days. I already had my auditions for the second round for acting school in Utrecht, and I was allowed to participate in the final round as well! There were only 26 people from about 400 left and I was one of those 26! (Makes you feel really special ;)) The auditions are now finally over after 4 days of auditioning in a row and all I can do now is wait for the letter to arrive with that final answer; yes or no. I'll keep you posted on that. Anyway, I'll see you guys at the next chappy!

Raven55


	12. Happy Tears

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter twelve: Happy Tears **

She woke up finding herself staring onto Lavender's face.

"Lavender! Please don't hover above me like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Lavender smiled. "Sorry, I was sent up to wake you. It's your last day of the holiday. You can't spend it in bed."

Grumbling, Hermione rolled out of bed and stepped into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her face showed how tired she was. It had taken her a while to fall asleep. In the end she had cried herself to sleep. Thank Merlin no one had been awake. She didn't want to answer questions about why she had been crying. And she didn't want to cause worry.

"Hermione! Hurry up. The boys are starving!"

Hermione smiled. She took out the necklace Harry had sent her for Christmas. It was so beautiful. She remembered how surprised she had been when she'd opened the package.

She stroked it with a finger. Another stream of tears was building up behind her brown eyes, but she forced them back.

"I'm coming!" she yelled out the door.

She looked at herself one more time before leaving the bathroom. Merlin, she really did look tired.

Lavender smiled when Hermione came out again. "Good. Let's go down for breakfast. I'll keep Ron occupied so you and Harry will have time to…bond."

Hermione gave her a thankful smile. At the bottom of the stairs she saw her friends waiting. Her heartbeat quickened. She couldn't help feeling nervous.

"Hey…good morning." He said softly.

She blushed. He was such a sweet person. She couldn't imagine how they had ever started arguing. She took his hand and gave him a warm smile.

"Good morning." She whispered.

Behind her, she could hear girls giggle. If she hadn't been so happy to be back, she would have turned around to curse them. But she was too happy to spoil the moment. Harry lead her out the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall. Before they could enter through the big doors, Harry pulled her aside.

"Harry? What are you doing?"

But he didn't respond until he had found an empty classroom.

"I have to talk to you." He said. "I want us to start over again because I love you. But I need to know if you-"

He looked at the ceiling.

Hermione sat down in one of the chairs.

"I missed you so much during the Christmas break, that I finally realised exactly how much you mean to me. I really do love you, Hermione."

She looked at his honest face.

"I- I've missed you too…" she whispered. "I've missed you so much…and I love you…and I know that the Parvati-thing wasn't your fault. I know that now."

She closed her eyes for a moment. Her stomach turned as she remembered everything Neville had said.

_'Oh, come off it Hermione. I was the one who got Parvati drunk at Halloween. I used the Imperius curse on her to make her kiss him. I told her you blamed her, I made sure you'd walk in on her hugging Harry. I got you and Harry to fight over Ron, that was all me Hermione! I made sure to spend all that time with you so Harry would get jealous. I did all that.'_

"It was never your fault." She said as she looked at Harry. "And I'm so sorry that I doubted you. I know what an honest person you are…I've known that for six years. But I just forgot everything when I saw you two together. And I shouldn't have. Please, will you forgive me?"

He took her hand and pulled her up, into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just happy you're here, in my arms."

He suddenly noticed her shoulders were shaking. She was crying. He tenderly wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"…Hey…what's wrong…"

She shook her head. "No-nothing…just…" she sniffed and turned around.

"Shh, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

She smiled thankfully. Harry embraced her again. She turned around and she could see he had tears in his eyes too.

"…You're crying."

"It's nothing. I'm just happy to have you back." He smiled. "Happy tears."

She sighed with relief. Suddenly she noticed how close his face actually was. He seemed to have noticed too, because his eyes darted to her lips and back. He moved closer, but she couldn't. She pushed him away.

"…No…please, not yet."

Harry looked down. "Of course…I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." She assured him. "Really, it is. Don't worry. I'm just not sure I'm ready for that again."

She gave him a warm smile. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to be with you."

He smiled broadly. He took her hand and they left the classroom. She knew how happy he was, she could see it in the way he moved. And this made her happy too. But she couldn't ignore that little voice in the back of her head, telling her she couldn't do this.

It was unfair on everyone. She would hurt Harry and herself if she allowed their bond to grow stronger again. But this happiness she felt right now was so much stronger than that little voice. Not answering this happiness would hurt everyone too and she couldn't see what would hurt the most.

* * *

Ginny yawned she was bored. Almost an entire day had passed and with nothing to do. Dean was working on an essay with Seamus and Ron was somewhere with Lavender, probably grinning like an idiot. 

She smiled. Ron was her brother and she loved him as one, but that didn't mean she thought he was fantastic in everything he did. In fact, Ginny thought Ron could use a few tips about how to woo a girl.

She shook her head again and suppressed a giggle. She was actually looking forward to the next holiday. Their mother would force Ron to invite Lavender over for dinner, which would be a screening in disguise.

And then there was Harry…He and Hermione were probably somewhere out on the grounds, enjoying the nice spring sun. They had been very strange people to be around lately. They'd sit next to each other and hold hands and on rare occasions she'd allow the boy to put an arm around her.

She hadn't spotted them kissing yet, and she guessed Hermione didn't want that yet. And Ginny understood that. But somewhere in the back of her mind something told her that two weeks away from each other and another two and a half drowning in each other's company should be enough to get their relationship back in shape.

But although they were taking it slow, there certainly had been some progress. At least they didn't avert their eyes anymore and the limited amount of words they said to each other had stretched by at least two hundred percent.

Ginny looked out the window and sighed. There really was no one around to talk to. Even Neville was nowhere to be found. Not that she really wanted to talk to Neville. That boy was probably the strangest of the lot.

He had come back from his holiday, saying he felt like he always did after visiting his parents, but instead of the solemn and embarrassed boy she knew, he had a new air around him as if he was trying to say he had won.

'Won what, though?' she wondered.

She guessed his grin had something to do with no longer needing Hermione to tutor him.

Ginny got to her feet and decided to go for a walk through the castle.

That was another strange thing. Hermione seemed to spend as little time with Neville as possible these days. Completely the opposite from before the holidays. But that was because Hermione didn't want to risk losing Harry again, Ginny figured.

She passed a painting of a man in a purple hat. He was playing cards with a few friends. She noticed how he slowly let a king of spades slide down his sleeve and land on his lap. He pretended to drop his cards and picked the king up into his hand.

When he straightened up, he noticed Ginny staring intently at him. She smiled and made a gesture as if to zip her lips. He smiled and returned to his game with a wink.

"Oh, young Lady." He said. "Your shoelaces…"

She looked down and saw what he meant.

"Thanks." She said to him as she bent through her knees to tie the shoelaces together again.

As she tied them into a knot, she heard a strange noise. She jumped up as she heard a voice behind her. But when she turned around, there was no one else in the corridor. She turned around again confusedly. Then she heard it again. She listened more closely and located the source of the voice.

From behind an unlocked door she could hear two people talking.

"So, you think you're really all that fantastic now? Well, let me tell you something…"

"No! I don't need to listen to a worthless little worm like you. You've done nothing to deserve the place you have among us. You're just a spoilt little boy with influential parents. But I…I work and deserve my place."

"At least my parents still have their sanity."

Ginny's eyes opened wide with anger as she heard Malfoy's famous sneer. She jerked the door open and stared at the blond boy menacingly.

"That's low, even for you Malfoy." Her wand was pointing at his face.

She watched him go even paler than usual. It was quite a sickening sight.

"Now, get out of here before I use my bogey-bat curse. I believe you had a taste of it last year, and guess what. I improved it."

Malfoy silently backed away to the door, giving Neville a disgusted glance. Neville stared at the wall, his face stony.

Ginny stared at him. "…I don't know what just went on here, but I don't understand how you can stand up to him one minute and let him walk all over you the next. You really shouldn't let that pathetic excuse for a human being talk about your parents like that."

Neville nodded slowly and fumbled for his wand. He gave her a nervous smile as the stick slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor.

"Oh no…" he muttered as he dove to the floor.

He brushed the dust off his clothes and gave her another apologetic grin. "Sorry…"

He took his wand in a more tight grip and pointed it at his book bag at the far end of the classroom.

"Accio!" he yelled.

To Ginny's surprise it didn't go up in flames.

"You've improved." She said, obviously impressed.

"Well, Hermione was my teacher…" he said, trying to his embarrassment.

Ginny nodded. "…Yeah…"

Suddenly her eyes started to shine.

"Hey!" she said excitedly. "You're not doing anything at the moment, are you? Want to play a game? I've been bored out of my mind all day!"

Neville nodded. "O-Okay…what? Chess?"

Ginny grinned. "I thought more along the lines of Quidditch."

Neville started to stutter but she didn't listen. She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out the door.

"Come on, you pansy. Let's see if your flying has improved too.

* * *

She smiled as she said goodnight to her friends. Ron, Lavender and Harry were still sitting at the dining table in the Great Hall, but Hermione was tired. She pecked Harry's cheek, who smiled at her in return. With one last wave over her shoulder she left the Hall to go up to the Gryffindor Tower. 

Today had been wonderful. She smiled broadly as she remembered how she and Harry had walked along side the lake.

A sudden hand in front of her mouth made her scream. But the sound was muffled as she was pulled into a classroom.

"Hello Hermione." Neville whispered.

She pushed him away. "Get off me! You- you-"

He grinned. "Can't call me a traitor, princess. Because you're as much a traitor as I am."

She looked disgusted at him. "I didn't choose to become what I am now. And I hate myself. You…you chose this all by yourself. How dare you call me a traitor, just like you."

Neville just shrugged and turned away. "I only came to say that our master is getting impatient."

He turned back again to look in her eyes, but her fist collided with his face.

"Don't you ever say those words in my presence again." She breathed heavily.

Neville raised one hand to his cheek, a look of puzzlement on his face. His expression quickly changed to stone.

"No. how dare _you_." He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. "You listen to me. I tell you what to do, because I am your superior. I can have you killed."

"…But you need me…"

"I'll manage. But think of poor little Paul. He needs you.'

Hermione closed her eyes.

"Good. Now, you hurry up with it, because I want results. And I want them soon."

He let go of her arm and strode out the door, his cloak billowing out behind him. Hermione dropped to her knees and whimpered.

* * *

* * *

Hello everyone and thank you for your patience. I had a lot of trouble with internet atr home, so I had to wait till I got back to school before I could post and seeing as how I missed a weeks worth of school because of my auditions I didn't have much time to post another chapter. I've added my thanks to those below who reviewed chapter 10 as well, because I didn't have the chance to do it last time. Luckily I've got a little more time on my hands right now, so now I _do_ have to opportunity to say thanks.

**Emma Barrows:** I think I reviewed Silver Lining...yeah, last night. :) I liked it. It's got a very good plotline and what I found really funny (in a very good way!) was that I can discover a certain style of writing you have. You've really got your own signature in your writing. So keep that up. I think I also read ominix till the last posted chapter, but I'll go check when I'm home. I'm glad you liked the chapter and I'll keep them updates coming.

**Magic and Sparkle:** Yeah, Neville was a big manipulator in this story, wasn't he? Oh well, all part of the plan. When I set off to write this story, only my decision to make Neville evil had been made. After that I thought about converting Hermione to the Dark side one way or another and the ron/lavender thing just slipped in whjen I was writing. I actually didn't want to pair up Ron with anyone but there you have it. Some stories write themselves :P Thanks for the nice review!

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Ah, there's the bottleneck, you see. She _wants_ to tell someone, she would never want to hurt anyone she loves. But by telling anyone, even Dumbledore, she would endanger Paul's life. And she loves her cousin so much and she's afraid that they'll kill him. She's afraid that she'll do something that'll kill Paul and then she'll have her little cousin's death on her conscience. She's scared to endanger him and that has paralyzed her. But trust me, this decision isn't easy for her. She's breaking up beacuse she knows she'll have to hurt _someone_ in the end and she doesn't know what to do. (Oh, and she's also afraid that someone finds out she is now a Death Eater and that they'll think she became one of her own free will)

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** She'll stay with Harry, don't worry. But that's a) because she loves him and b) because it's part of Neville's plan. And the thing about telling Harry is...that she's afraid that if she tells _anyone_ what's going on, that Neville will find out and that he'll then kill Paul. (I've explained it a bit more detailed in the 'thank you' for lucerito. You might want to read that if this wasn't clear.) Anyway, thank you very much for the review, please breathe in...breathe out...in...and out...and then leave another review at the bottom ;) Hehe, thank you!

I can't say an awful lot more, because there's little to say and because I've got an exam coming up in...25 minutes, so I'd best be off, preparing myself. (history of art exam; I have to know pretty much everything from the medievil times up till now...Hmm...I'm doomed...VV)

See you all at the next chapter!  
-Raven55


	13. Night Time Walks and Kisses

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter thirteen: Night Time Walks and Kisses **

"So…have you two been getting closer yet?"

Harry closed his eyes and grinned. "Ron…if you'd just let it rest. Give us some space."

"But you've had three weeks! And all you seem to have accomplished is hand-holding."

Ron sat back in his chair. He couldn't believe how slow all this was going. During the summer it hadn't taken them this long.

"We need to rebuild the trust we had. And that takes a lot of time. Besides, I like hand-holding. I don't feel the need to speed it up. We're happy, that's the main thing, isn't it?"

Ron nodded vaguely. "Yeah…but I mean, come on. If you two went any slower you'd qualify to compete in a snail race."

He glanced at the door of the girls' dormitory at the top of the stairs. He'd sent Ginny up to talk to Hermione about this, and Lavender said she had showered Hermione with advice last night. So he expected her to come down the stairs any minute to kiss Harry.

"And believe me." He added. "Snails aren't fast in anything. Least of all relationships."

"Ron, snails don't have relationships. They don't need them. They're hermaphrodites."

Ron looked up. "Hermy-whats?"

"Hermaphrodites. Both male and female."

Harry watched fascinated as Ron's face contracted in utter disgust.

"…That, actually, was unwanted information Harry. Merlin, that's disgusting."

He glanced back at the door. Still nothing. He looked up when the portrait hole swung open. Dean came in.

"Hey guys. What's up."

He sat down next to Harry and looked at the chessboard in front of them. "You should move that knight to H 3. Ron's queen is about to take your king, so if you put your knight there, you'll block her attack and then you'll be able to take her down with your tower."

Harry looked up. "When did you get so good at chess?"

Dean shrugged. "I date Ginny. You'd be surprised how much you learn about chess, dating a Weasley."

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't work out if he had just been insulted or complimented.

"By the way, Harry." Dean said. "We had this idea for a triple date."

"That is to say, Ginny and Lavender had an idea." Ron added.

He didn't really look forward to a date including his sister, but it was for the greater good; Harry and Hermione.

"What do you think?"

Harry was saved answering, because the door of the girls' dormitory opened and closed again. Ron jerked his head back to see who came down. A broad smile washed over his face.

"Say, Dean…how about you and I go over there and…err…play chess." He said, nodding his head to the far end of the common room.

Dean grinned, swished the chessboard from the table and followed Ron. Hermione gave them a curious look, but Ron just grinned and shook his head.

Hermione sat down next to Harry. She had been drowned in talks about boys in general, boys in particular and how to handle boy-situations. She was fed up with it. She knew her friends meant well, but it was enough to make any girl go crazy.

She leaned her head against Harry's shoulder and he took this as a sign he could put his arm around her shoulders. She smiled contently as she felt his arms slip around her shoulders. It felt so secure.

She turned her neck and met his eyes. They sparkled. She loved that sparkle so much. She bit her lip for a moment and then she threw all caution to the wind. She leaned in and kissed him.

He was surprised, but happily returned the kiss. When she pulled back he grinned mischievously.

"…Are we…are you sure…what are we now?"

She bit her lip again. "…I don't know. Are we…?"

"Only if you want us to be."

Before she knew what she was doing, she nodded. Her head was telling her no, it told her to get far away from Harry as quick as possible. But when she looked into his eyes again, she could only see that sparkle.

She closed her eyes and waited to feel his lips on hers again. But they didn't come. She opened her eyes and looked at him, questioningly. He just smiled warmly. He lifted his head and softly kissed her forehead.

She sighed as she leaned her head against his chest. Her hand slowly entangled with his as she listened to his heartbeat.

A snort of laughter broke their perfect moment. She looked up and saw Dean and Ron desperately trying to suppress their laughter. Ron leaned flat on the table and Dean was desperately pressing his hand over his mouth.

Harry sighed. "Come, let's go for a walk."

She was already halfway up form he couch while her head still shouted no. Suddenly the portrait hole opened again. She only noticed how she was standing when she saw who had come in. She was up in something that looked more than a friendly embrace with Harry.

She averted her eyes from Neville's.

"Evening, everyone." He said.

He was greeted by the boys.

"I was wondering if you cold look at my essay, Hermione." He said, giving her a piercing glance.

"Sorry, Neville. Hermione and I were just on our way to have a nice walk."

"Actually Harry…" she said hesitantly. "I'm not feeling too well."

Her head had suddenly gone light and she was holding on to his arm for support. "I- I'd best go…up to bed."

Harry nodded and lead her to the stairs. "I'm not allowed up there…can you do it without falling?"

She nodded. "Yes."

She looked at him again and gave him a warm smile. How could anyone hate that sparkle in his eyes, how could anyone?

She leaned in and kissed him. She wasn't sure if it was the kiss or her head that made her feel dizzy, but she was sure of it that the best thing she could do now was go up those stairs. She turned and walked up two steps.

Then she stopped and turned back again. Harry was still at the bottom of the stairs, watching her so he could catch her if she fainted.

"…I'd love to go on that walk tomorrow, though." She heard herself say.

He smiled broadly. "Tomorrow it is, then. Sleep tight."

She turned away, feeling more than one pair of eyes burning in her back.

* * *

"Tonight." 

"Tonight? Very well. I shall inform them."

"And bring the package."

There was a moment of silence. Ginny jumped back and ran to hide behind the corner. She took a few deep breaths as she heard the door open and close.

The footsteps came her way and she shuffled back. She wasn't surprised to see Draco Malfoy come around the corner. He only halted briefly when he saw her. But his famous smirk soon found its way back to his face.

"Well, well…the Weasley girl. What are you doing here?"

Ginny was surprised by this question. "What gives you the right to ask me that question? I might as well ask you the same, but frankly, I'm not interested. Now if you'll excuse me, I was on my way to lunch."

She brushed past him with a vague smirk of her own on her face. It wasn't often she was able to silence Draco Malfoy in a 'conversation' like this. But sometimes she knew just what to say to make him unable to talk back.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back. She smirked again. That creep of a Malfoy was staring at her. She turned back and shook her head, letting her ginger hair ripple gently. He was so obvious. She'd have to look up a nice curse in the library to use on him. If there was one thing she didn't want, it was Malfoy following her around with his tongue dangling out his mouth.

And she was pretty certain Dean wouldn't appreciate that either.

'I wonder who he was talking to.'

Probably one of his lackeys. They were up to something, another one of their tricks as usual. Only last week had she caught them trying to drown mrs. Norris in a vat of Butterbeer in the kitchen. The poor House Elves had hidden somewhere behind the counters, hoping they wouldn't be next.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. She snapped around and had already jabbed her wand at whoever had had the nerve to scare her like that.

"Neville! I thought you were Malfoy."

He looked from her wand to her face and back again. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I just ran in to him a second ago. Sorry about the wand."

She pocketed it and continued her walk. "I'm going to lunch. Are you coming?"

* * *

"So…ready for it then?" Ron said, failing miserably to hide the huge grin on his face. 

"Ron, it's just a walk!" Harry said with a sigh, stressing the last word.

But Ron just grinned. "Sure it is. That's why you keep running to the mirror to make sure there's nothing weird on your face."

"I do not!" Harry said indignantly.

Then he shot to the mirror hastily. "There _isn't_ anything weird on my face, is there?"

Ron chuckled. "Oh-kay…time for you to go, lover boy."

Harry nodded and checked the mirror one last time.

"Don't wait up." He said with a wink.

He nearly skipped down the stairs and found Hermione sitting in a chair, talking to Lavender. He watched as Lavender gave Hermione a gentle nudge out of her chair.

Hermione stood up and edged her way towards him. He stepped forwards eagerly and took her hand.

"Well, shall we go?" he asked with a cheerful voice.

She nodded and let herself be escorted out the portrait hole. He let go of her hand as they reached the entrance doors of the castle and put his arm around her shoulders. She sighed contently.

It wasn't cold outside, not as cold as he had expected. But winter had already died and spring was almost over too, so it didn't surprise him.

They didn't talk, they didn't need to. Both of them felt that this silence said more than words could at this moment.

She looked ahead, slowly watching the forest and the lake draw closer. A cold hand closed around her heart, giving it a tight squeeze. She shivered.

She could still go back. She could.

Harry noticed her hesitation and looked at her curiously. "Are you…do you want to go back? Because if you're not sure about you and me…"

She shook her head. "It's not that I'm not sure about us. Being back here with you means everything to me. More than you can comprehend. I-"

"Good." He said with a warm smile.

He pulled her into a tight hug, burying his nose in her hair. His breath tickled her neck and she giggled softly. He drew his head back and looked into her eyes. Then he leaned forward and kissed her softly on her lips. She put her hands in his neck and deepened the kiss.

When she pulled out of it suddenly, he was taken by surprise. She seemed to be crying again.

"Hermione…"

She shook her head and ran towards the forest, getting away from his as quick as she could.

'I can't do this.' She thought.

Behind her she could hear Harry's footsteps following her. He reached out and grabbed her arm. She let out a short cry of pain. Immediately he let go again.

"Oh…I- I didn't mean to hurt you…I'm sorry."

She shook her head and looked at the ground. Her hand was clutching her arm where the Dark Mark was burning in her skin. She stifled a sob and looked up with teary eyes. She had lead him to the forest.

"Go back…go…" she whispered.

She knew she couldn't go back anymore. She flew into his arms, sobbing heavily.

"Go back! Run, please…Go back!" she cried hysterically.

Her arms were around his neck, pulling him into the embrace. Her tears surprised Harry and he tried to return the hug. He tried to comfort her, but she shook her head.

"Don't…"

"Hermione, I don't understand…if there's something wrong, then tell me."

She pulled away for a second to look into his eyes.

"I can't…" she sniffed weakly. "I can't tell you…"

She hugged him again and listened to his heartbeat. It used to be so comforting, but it wasn't, not anymore.

"Please…forgive me…" she whispered.

Harry pushed her away slightly. "What do you mean?"

He watched the tears roll down her face as she stepped away.

A swish of cloaks made him look up.

"Please run…"

"Hermione, look out!"

He ran towards her, but a masked man blocked his was.

"There's no need to protect her." A cold voice said. "We won't harm her."

* * *

**

* * *

Emma Barrows: **Did this surprise you? I hope I portrayed Hermione's feelings right. She's really confused. She's afraid that the DE's will hurt Paul and yet she doesn't want to harm Harry. She feels really helpless right now. I hope I was able to show that to the reader. Anyway, I'm a bit busy with my test week right now so I won't have time to read Maelstrom just yet. But I will as soon as I can, I promise :) 

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** Harry really hasn't got a clue about what's going on. The poor thing. And poor Hermione too. She really didn't want to do this. But her feelings for Harry really did come back even though she knew she had to make them go away. And then there's her cute cousin Paul. I think you still want to hit something after this chapter…You were right about the fact that Hermione had to lead Harry into an ambush, but not quite right about _who_'d be waiting for him there. Anyway, I'm sure I'll hear from you again :)

**Anynomous reader:** Hermione's not at all sure about what or who she is now. All she ever wanted was to be happily in love with Harry without all this trouble. But now that this has happened…she doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to be a DE but she's hardly got a choice now, has she…well, you'll see what happens in the next chapter.

**An:** I promised to keep you updated on how the actingschool thingy went. I got a letter a week ago, I think, and it said that they didn't think I was suitable for their school. Oh well, too bad. Now I'll go study Law instead. That'll be fun too. I hope to see all of you at the next chapter. Think happy thoughts!  
-Raven55


	14. Sparkle

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter fourteen: Sparkle **

Harry stared at the hooded man in front of him. "Take off that mask, Malfoy. If you need to face me, then face me without it."

"A brave boy…you always were one of the more reckless people alive. Inherited, I suppose. Frankly, I just don't know what the girl sees in you."

Harry's eyes shot open wide. They were going to hurt Hermione. He couldn't let them do anything to her.

"Leave Hermione out of this! She's got nothing to do with it!"

Malfoy's roaring laughter was not loud enough to mask Hermione's sobs in the background. Harry felt anger rise inside him. How dare that Death Eater laugh at him. He had never been more serious in his life.

"I mean it, Malfoy. Leave her alone."

The man took off his mask to reveal his face. The others behind him followed his example. They had formed half a circle around Hermione's small frame. Malfoy pushed Harry towards her.

"Say goodbye, Potter."

He shot Malfoy a defying glance before turning to Hermione. He took her hands and tried to calm her down.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I won't let them hurt you."

But she didn't seem to hear him.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

He wiped her tears away. "I'll protect you."

"I love you, Harry. I love you. Please forgive me."

He tried to hug her, but she pushed him away, stepping back. He didn't understand.

She couldn't look at him anymore. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle seeing the sparkle in his eyes.

One of the men behind her laid a hand on her shoulder. Inside Harry, anger raged.

"You take those filthy hands off her!"

Behind him, Malfoy snorted. "Filthy hands? Don't worry about her. We don't hurt our own."

Harry stared.

"What?"

He turned back to look at Hermione. She cried. A cloaked person stepped forward and draped a black cloak around her shoulders.

"Hermione…"

His voice was no longer strong as his mind slowly began to realise what he was seeing.

"I love you, Harry!" she wailed. "I'm so sorry! They have Paul, Harry! They've got Paul! What could I have done…"

Harry took a step back, his whole body trembling. Hermione was one of them. His breath got stuck in his throat as he felt the tip of a wand sticking in his back.

"…Paul…"

"I'm so sorry…I….please forgive me…"

They looked at each other, their eyes meeting. She was begging for his forgiveness.

"When." It was the only thing he could say.

"…Christmas."

He looked at the ground. She had been a spy since Christmas. A Death Eater. But all the time before that had been real. Their love had been real.

He looked up again, straight into her eyes. He nodded, just once.

"I-"

The words got stuck in his throat as Malfoy jabbed the wand forcefully into his back. He heard Malfoy whisper a spell and the tip of the wand grew colder and sharper. A knife. He tried to turn around, but the sudden short pain in his spine paralysed him.

He coughed and vaguely noticed the taste of blood in his mouth.

Another forceful thrust in his back caught him off balance. He looked down and saw the tip emerging from his chest.

With one forceful jerk the knife was pulled back from of his body. He staggered and fell to his back. He could hear vague laughter, only broken by a loud cry.

He tried to look at Hermione, to see her one last time. But as his vision focussed and blurred, he could see one of the other men slowly lowering a mask over her face.

He turned his head away and relaxed his muscles. He felt tired, so tired. He filtered out Hermione's crying, but it was fading. His life was fading.

Hermione shrieked as she watched Harry's body go limp. He wasn't moving anymore. Merlin, he wasn't moving. The mask someone had slid on her face was blocking her vision and she pulled it off.

She ran towards his body and fell to her knees. She was surprised that she wasn't stopped, but she knew, in the back of her mind, that Malfoy would let her torture herself.

She clutched him to her chest. She shivered and let him go almost immediately. He was already going cold.

She felt a burning feeling inside her eyes, but no tears came. She was empty.

Someone lifted her up, she didn't know who and she didn't care. All she knew was that she had betrayed her friend. She had killed him.

Someone whispered into her ear. "Nice work, princess. You did wonderful."

She shrieked and started to kick and scratch everything she could reach. But it was useless. She had no real strength left inside her. Behind her she heard the swish of cloaks and for a moment she thought they had left her alone.

But Neville was still there. She turned around to say something to him, to blame him. But his cold eyes petrified her.

"It's for the best." He said as he swung a large branch of a tree over his shoulder and brought it round to her head.

She couldn't move and didn't want to dodge it either.

Neville caught her before she hit the ground and gently laid her down. He looked at her face. It was so peaceful now. No anger or grief written all over it. He brushed his lips over hers briefly and stood up again.

He glanced at the castle and took her cloak. He hid it in a small box, together with his own cloak and both masks. He looked at the cloak for a moment, letting the fabric slither through his fingers.

He stopped at a little silver skull that had been embroidered on the inside and involuntarily reached for his own arm where the Mark was burning violently. Their master was pleased.

He swished his wand and watched the box slowly disappear. Now it was his turn.

* * *

She shot up and looked around wildly. Where was she? 

Someone pushed her back down. She struggled to get loose, but all the bright light around her blinded her.

"Someone get Ron!" a voice shouted.

A rush of movement around her made her panic. What was going on? Suddenly she felt someone take her hand. Someone was talking to her.

"Shh…it's alright, Hermione. Calm down. It's me."

She stopped struggling. "…Ron?"

Her voice sounded strange. Weak and vulnerable. Her vision slowly focussed and she could see a face above hers.

"Yes, it's me."

His face was worried and tired. She looked around. She was in the hospital wing. Her bed was surrounded by people, all with a worried frown.

"…how did I get here?" she asked timidly as she tried to get her head to stop spinning.

She looked at the people around her. Dumbledore was there. And so was McGonagall. Lavender was sitting in a chair, her face as white as chalk. Ginny was silently sobbing into Dean's shoulder, who had her in a tight hug.

Hermione looked back at Ron. His face was no only tired, but tearstained as well.

"Neville found you, Hermione."

He looked up at Dumbledore, who nodded and took over.

"Miss Granger, I have to tell you something. You were found by mister Longbottom last night and-"

She shot up.

"Neville!" she shrieked.

She looked at all the other beds in the wing. Neville was on one of them. She tried to get up, wanting to hurt him, but Ron pushed her back.

"Neville's fine, Hermione."

"He's just asleep." Dumbledore said. "But I must ask you…do you remember anything about last night?"

Hermione looked at him.

'He doesn't know…' she thought slowly.

"I-"

"You were attacked by someone. You were not alone, mister Potter was with you."

"A…attacked?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Mister Potter…died. He was stabbed to death."

He stepped aside to show her a bed. Harry's body was on it. His skin was white. His eyes were still open.

She scrambled out of bed, pushing several people aside. She looked at the pale face. His eyes, even though they were still green, were empty. She searched for their sparkle, but it had gone. It had fled with the warmth of his body.

She reached out one hand to touch his face. It was so cold. As cold as stone.

Suddenly her head started to scream in pain. Her arm was burning so badly that her head started to spin again.

"She's in shock" someone yelled.

She felt herself losing her balance and hit the floor. Her head his the tiles, causing her to fall unconscious again.

Ron lifted her up and hauled her back to her bed. Lavender hugged him and hid her tears. Behind them, Madam Pomfrey covered Harry's body with a white cloth.

Ron felt himself go nauseous again.

"…What happened to them…" he whispered.

Madam Pomfrey took the bed away with Harry on it. A grim expression on her face.

Dumbledore coughed. "I think it's better if you all went back up to your common room."

The children looked at him and nodded vaguely. Ron looked back at Hermione's motionless body.

"I'll get the bastard who did this" he said, his voice breaking up in tears.

Lavender tugged at his sleeve. "I know…come on, Ron. Let's go."

He allowed himself to be walked out the door.

Dumbledore closed the door behind them and sat down at Hermione's bed. "Minerva, please ask Poppy to come here."

McGonagall nodded and left the hospital quickly. Dumbledore looked at Hermione's pale face. She had fainted of shock. I struck him as odd that she'd had to touch Harry to pass out, not fainting at the sight of his dead body.

"She saw him die, professor." Neville said with a broken voice.

Dumbledore turned around and saw the boy sitting up in his bed. "Mister Longbottom, good to see you're awake again."

"I hid behind the trees when I heard voices. I saw how they were surrounded. But faces…I couldn't see well, it was too dark. All I could see were shadow's. I heard her scream…and then…there was silence. When I looked again, the shadows had gone."

He laid down on his back again.

"Harry was there…on the ground. And Hermione too…I- I was too scared to do anything, professor! I feel so…I could've done something to save them, to protect them…I should've…but I- I was too scared."

Dumbledore gave Neville an encouraging smile. "Don't feel guilty, mister Longbottom. If they were adults, then they were also fully trained wizards. If you had jumped out, you would have only endangered yourself as well."

He looked up as the door opened and McGonagall cam back, followed closely by Madam Pomfrey.

"I'd like to talk to miss Granger. Is this possible?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "I'll try and wake her."

She rummaged around in a cupboard and got out a number of small bottles. She sat down next to Hermione and forced her to drink the fluids from one of those bottles.

Hermione opened her eyes. "…Wha-"

"You fainted, miss Granger." said Dumbledore, looking somewhat like a concerned grandfather. "I'd like to talk to you. Is that alright?"

Hermione nodded subdued and sat up in her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. She shuddered a little and looked at Dumbledore. He took off his glasses and put them in his pocket.

"…Do you remember anything from last night?"

"I went on a walk with Harry…" she managed.

"And you were attacked." He added.

She looked at Neville, who was sitting on his own bed. He pointed at his arm and pressed his thumb on the spot that still burned lightly. She winced as her own Mark burned a little stronger for a moment.

She looked at him defiantly. This is where it would end. She looked back at Dumbledore.

"…I betrayed him." she said.

But her words came out differently.

"…I can't remember." she heard herself say.

She looked at Neville again and grabbed her throat. Neville's face was stony as he twirled his wand between his fingers.

She tried to scream. "I betrayed Harry! Neville's a Death Eater!"

But all her words twisted into hysteric sobs and "I don't remember anything."

She started to cry. Dumbledore nodded and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, miss Granger. It's not your fault."

He turned around and whispered to madam Pomfrey. "I think it's best to let them go up to their friends. The memorial will be arranged for tomorrow."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. She waited until Dumbledore had left before she started to get Neville up.

"Come on. You're free to go up to your common room."

Neville climbed out of bed and left the Hospital Wing without looking at Hermione. She didn't care. She didn't want to see his face ever again.

"Miss Granger, are you up to walking back up to your common room?"

She nodded. "I am…"

"Well, up you go then."

Hermione stood up and walked to the door. Before she opened it, she looked back.

"…Madam Pomfrey? Harry-…what…will happen?"

"There will be a memorial service tomorrow. Don't think about it anymore, please. It's best if you don't."

Hermione closed the door behind her and felt another wave of tears welling up inside her. She felt someone put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She looked up at him thankfully until she saw who it was.

She roughly pushed him away, causing him to fall to the ground.

"I don't want to see you ever again." she hissed.

Neville shrugged. "Fine. You served your purpose."

"Then let Paul go. He should no longer be your prisoner."

Neville threw a package into her lap. "We already freed Paul. Now he'll never have to know that his favourite cousin was a traitor."

"No!" Hermione wailed.

Neville strode away, leaving her on her knees. With trembling fingers she opened the package. On top of a black cloak and mask was a photograph.

She screamed.

Paul was dead.

* * *

**

* * *

Emma Barrows: **thank you for calling Hermione's character realistic and more human. That was definitely what I was aiming for. I wanted to keep this story a bit believable if you understand what I mean. I learned that you shouldn't write (or act) beyond what you know and seeing as how I've never been in a situation like her or seen anyone die I just tried to imagine what kind of emotions it would summon within me and that's what I wrote down, I think. 

**Magic and Sparkle:** gheghe, I thought you were the anonymous one. It ended with ttfn, so I kinda figured it would be you :P I know all about log in problems. I had one just yesterday! I wanted to change my email password, but then I forgot whether or not I had used capitals and everything went wrong and I almost had to change email accounts! But now it's all fixed again, luckily :) Don't you just hate computers sometimes?

**R-Krulle:** Well, I wonder if you expected Harry to die…Some people think you should never kill off the main character. But see, Harry is the main character of the books, not in my story. So I think could kill him without ruining the plotline. Anyway, Hermione is the real main character. I hope you liked this chapter.

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** Yeah, it broke his heart alright…not that he had to suffer from it long, 'cause he's dead now. Poor thing. And what about Hermione, eh? She betrayed Harry to save her cousin and now Neville betrayed her by killing Paul. (well, not that _he_ killed Paul, he wouldn't want the blood on his hands. But I think I'll go and hide now before you figure out you could hit me for writing this and killing both boys…I think hiding would be the best option so if you'll excuse me…hides

**HG109:** more action and more love? Hmm, well, there was more action in this chapter, but it was passive action, I guess. And it's very hard to put in more love at this stage of the story. See, I've already gotten it written out and I know how this will end. And as you can probably see from the point of where the story is now, it's a bit strange to suddenly go from dramatic to all lovey-dovey…but I hope you liked the chapter anyway.

**An:** Right, now I know I killed Harry and not everyone might approve of that, so I'll go to my room and find some protective material to wear over my clothes in case anyone should want to attack me…Nah, I know you guys won't hurt me. At least not until the story has reached it's end…OO…uh oh…there are only two more chapters to go…darn…now I'll have to go and find some place I can hide in…

…please spare me?

...please?


	15. The Knife

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter fifteen: The Knife **

She followed Ron out the Great Hall. Everyone had tears in their eyes or on their faces except for the Slytherins. It had been a beautiful ceremony. She and Ron had been seated on a little stage, next to a photograph of Harry. The coffin was still in the Hospital Wing.

She was grateful for that. She didn't think she could have handled being so close to the empty shell that once was his body.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder. It was Lavender. They hugged each other, trying not to burst into tears again.

Dumbledore waited for them at the end of the Hall. "The cremation will be at two this afternoon for those who want to be there. You are all allowed to be there, of course. But if you don't feel up to it, then don't think you have to be there. No one will blame you if you're not."

He said this with a sideways glance at Hermione. She nodded. She couldn't come. She felt nauseous every time someone said his name.

Lavender lead her up to the common room and seated her in a chair near the fireplace. Her gaze was empty. No one knew she had been grieving two losses instead of one. No one knew what she was going through. And she didn't tell anyone.

Ron sat down next to her and laid a comforting arm around her. She started to cry into his shoulder.

"It's okay…it's okay…" he whispered.

"How can you!" she shrieked. "He's dead!"

Ron glanced at Lavender uncertainly.

"But it's not your fault, Hermione." he tried again. "Harry was killed by Death Eaters, who else would have done that? It's not your fault."

She wailed even louder. "It _is_ my fault! I- I took him on that walk…if I hadn't…then-"

"You couldn't have known about them in the forest."

Hermione jumped up. It was Neville who had said that. She pushed Ron back in the chair, who had tried to make her sit down. She looked Neville straight in his eyes.

"You…" she hissed.

How dared he? He had cried at the ceremony that morning. The heartless bastard had cried. He'd had the nerve to pretend he cared about Harry's death.

"Don't you ever talk to me again."

He had broken his word about Paul. He had ruined her life, he had made her betray her love and her own family. She would make him pay.

Someone grabbed her arms and pulled her back down into her chair.

"Hermione!" Ron hissed indignantly. "I know you're hurt, but don't take it out on Neville, he can't change any of it."

"It's okay, Ron. I understand. It's because she's hurt." Neville said.

Hermione jumped to her feet and ran up the stairs. She slammed the door shut and jerked the curtains around her bed. She let out another cry.

On her bedside table stood a photograph of her and Harry during the summer holiday. He smiled, waved at her and kissed her photographic self.

He was dead.

They could've been so happy together, if she had just not listened to Neville. Yes, That was it. Neville was at the bottom of all her pain. Everything lead back to him.

She ignored the pain in her arm and punched her pillow.

* * *

"Nice show yesterday. I believed every minute of it." 

Neville sat in a decorated armchair in front of the fire. It reminded Hermione of the Godfather.

"You better shut that traitor mouth of yours." she snapped. "Because I'll get my revenge. Trust me, I will."

She slowly slid her arm up her back, searching. Her fingers closed around the hilt of the knife she had hidden in the folds of her cloak.

"Listen princess. You might think that you've got power to hurt me but you're mistaken. You can't."

"Oh yes I can." she said through gritted teeth. "You killed Paul because you thought you had no further reason to control me. You made a mistake. You killed everyone that ever meant something to me."

Neville laughed. His laughter cut through her soul like a hot knife through butter. How dared he laugh. She was serious. Every fibre of her being screamed for revenge.

"How dare you laugh." she hissed,

Neville's body shook with laughter. "You, my little princess, are so funny."

He laughed again and snapped his fingers. "I killed everyone? I did not lead Harry up to the forest. I did not hold the knife. Nor did I hurt one single hair on little Paul's head. Other people do the dirty work."

The door opened and someone with a bag over his head was pushed inside.

"Besides." Neville continued. "You forgot about poor Ron. Doesn't he mean anything to you?"

Hermione screamed and tore the bag of Ron's head.

"Don't touch him!" Neville said warningly. "You'll kill him, too!"

She jumped up and launched herself at Neville.

"How dare you!" she shrieked. "How can you- how-"

Her hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger. Suddenly she lost control. Her arm flew out, her fingers released the hilt.

She watched how Neville's mouth shaped to an 'o', how his eyes opened wide with fear. The blade pierced his chest. It seemed strange that there was no blood.

Behind her, Ron screamed. She turned around. He was on his feet, trying to get out the door.

She reached out to him. "…Ron, it's me…"

"Stay away from me!" he shouted. "You killed Neville! Stay away from me. Murderer!"

"No!" She sunk to her knees. "I'm not…I- He killed Harry…I…he's a Death Eater, Ron…"

But Ron didn't believe her. He shook his head.

"No. You killed him."

She stepped back. "But…he…he's got the Dark Mark on his arm! I can show you!"

She ran to the bloodless corps on the chair. She ripped the sleeve from his cloak and rolled up the sleeve of Neville's shirt. She gasped. There was noting on his arm. No Mark, no scar, no sign of a skull at all.

"It's gone…" she whispered.

When she turned around, Ron was on the floor. His body was pale and cold. He was dead. She screamed.

She shot up, breathing heavily. She looked around. She was in her bed, in the dormitory. Her sheets were wet with sweat. She dropped back into her pillow. This had been the third time that week. She couldn't sleep and if she did, then she dreamt of killing Neville.

She opened the drawer of her bedside table and looked at the knife that reflected the moonlight.

Paul…Harry…they kept coming back to her. Their faces, the way his body had fallen to the ground, the way he had nodded to forgive her. The way his face had contracted into a frown when he had finally realised what was going on.

And every day people would ask her if she was okay.

'_Why are you so quiet, Hermione? You should talk about it.'_

'_Are you alright? It's just…you seem so quiet. So…on your own. But you're _not_ on your own with this. We're all here for you.'_

They meant well, she knew that. But they made her remember. Not that she would be able to forget, but their presence, their worries made the hurt fresh all over again.

She took the knife and stared at it in silence. She had bought it to protect herself. But now it seemed the knife would serve a different purpose.

* * *

Everyone at the table seemed to look at her. She could hear the questions that buzzed inside their heads. 

'They're waiting for me to jump up and go crazy.' she thought bitterly. 'They think I lost my mind the moment I saw Harry. Maybe they're right…'

Her hand went down into her pocket and she let her fingers slide over the ice cold blade. Suddenly she got to her feet. Everyone went silent for a moment and looked at her. She ignored them and left the Great Hall.

She wandered through the corridors, looking for a quiet, hidden little place. She turned the corner and stopped. Draco Malfoy was looking at her, leaning against a statue of an ancient wizard.

"…How does it feel?" he said.

He looked at her with a mixture of hate and coldness. This girl would be praised by everyone in the future as the one to bring down Harry Potter. She would even be praised by the Dark Lord himself if he ever got to meet her.

"…What?" was all she could say.

Malfoy smirked. "How does it feel you betray Potter to save your cousin, only to find he's already dead at someone else's hands."

"Those hands…were they yours?" she asked with such controlled hatred that it scared him for a second.

"You're asking me if I killed him?"

She nodded.

"No. I didn't."

She breathed through her nose. "Of course not. I should've known. You're only a messenger boy after all. Voldemort probably has a whole range of butchers for dirty work like that. Butchers like that father of yours."

She heard his breathing stop for a moment.

"What did you call my father?" he asked menacingly.

"You heard the girl. A butcher." Neville's voice sounded from behind Hermione. "After all, he was the one who put the knife in Potter's back."

For a moment Malfoy had a proud gleam in his eyes. "So my father…was the one who killed Potter…"

"Don't get any idea's in your head, Malfoy." Neville said lazily. "Hermione was the one who lead him up to the forest unarmed. It was nothing more but an easy murder after that."

Malfoy looked angry again. "But she's a mud blood!"

"She's our princess, if you like it or not. And princesses marry princes…" he added dreamily.

Malfoy started to laugh maniacally. "That's what you think? That's what you think? Merlin, you're even more twisted than I thought!"

Laughing madly he pushed past them. Hermione watched him leave. Neville reached out and touched her shoulder, but she hit his hand and pushed him away.

"I don't know who you think you are, but I doubt Voldemort thinks of you as his prince." she said coldly.

She brushed past him and walked into the first empty room she could find. It was dust and the windows were shut. Old trophies lined the walls and reflected the flickers of candlelight that lit up the room.

She looked at the candle in the back of the room and sat down on her knees. She couldn't take this anymore. The questions, the faces, the remarks. One of these days the truth would out about the murder. She hoped it would, but no one would understand her if it did. No one would listen to her or ask her why. They'd just assume what they wanted to.

She wrote their names in the dust.

Harry.

Paul.

She could feel that someone had come in. But she didn't care. If she was going to do this, then she wanted someone to witness it. She wanted Neville to witness what he had driven her to.

"Stay back." she said menacingly as the footsteps came closer.

"Listen to me, you don't have to-" his voice was slightly worried.

"You haven't got the faintest idea!" she shrieked as she got to her feet and turned around. "You don't see their faces, you don't feel broken like I do. You chose this path, Neville. I was forced. Forced by you!"

Neville didn't speak, but stepped closer.

"And then another thing!" she yelled. "If you think that I'll let myself be given to you, just because you seem to fancy me, then you've got another thing coming!"

"But think about it. Think about the power you could have."

She laughed emptily. "Power? You think I care about power? You robbed me of two of the most dear people in my life, not to mention of my dignity and heart. Yours may be made of stone but mine isn't."

She took the knife from her pocket and pointed it at her chest.

"I'd rather die than ever lay eyes on you again. And I will."

* * *

* * *

Hmm… I got some angry reviews after killing Harry…oh well, I suppose I knew that was coming. But you see _he's_ not the main character and I thought it fitted the story properly :)

**Emma Barrows:** nn ah, glad you liked the chapter. I'm reading Maelstrom too, but I'm sooo busy for school that I sometimes can't find the time to read. I'll read up soon, I promise.

**Magic and Sparkle:** Sorry about your computer. They can be such a bother at times, I know. I'm glad you didn't lose any of your work, that would have been such a waste. (I always make back-ups out of fear they'll be deleted if I don't.)

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** Was it really that awful:( sorry…but it had to happen. I hope this chapter and the next one will make up for it, but, seeing as how much you hate Harry being dead, I don't think they will. See, I never said this story would have a HAPPY ending, now did I? I think I really should go into hiding now…oh well, it's FANfiction after all.

**R-Krulle:** Well, sometimes I felt killing Harry was a bit too much as well…but then I thought, no, this is the way the story is supposed to be and I wanted to write my own version of their 6th year. I mean, who's to say that he'll survive all 7 years at Hogwarts? Perhaps Rowling, how ever unlikely, will make him drop dead halfway book 6 too! Okay, so she probably won't. :P But I'm glad I got you hooked. Please keep reading!

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Gheghe…death to Neville, eh? Hmm, maybe, maybe, or maybe not. I'm not saying anything. I know you hate Harry dying, but just face it girl, he's not coming back in this fic. Sorry. But it won't last much longer anyway. This is the last-but-one chapter so…all will be revealed in the final chapter in a bout….oh, say a week? I'll talk to you soon. Promise.

**Dansgirl14:** A true author? Thank you so much! I'm really flattered! Please read the next chapter too, it will be the last one of this story.

Well, like I said in some of the thank-you's above, the NEXT chapter will also be the LAST chapter. So please stay tuned for chapter 16 and I hope you'll all read it and review. Thank you :)  
-raven55


	16. Princess

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything J.K Rowling thought up, all I own is the plot.

* * *

**Chapter sixteen: Princess **

"I'm worried about Hermione." Ginny said when the Great Hall slowly filled up with noise again.

Ron nodded. The girl had been so quiet for the last few days, so empty. Walking around as if she was constantly sleepwalking. She was pale and tired all the time. He expected her to fall apart with exhaustion.

"She's hurt…but everyone looks at her as if she's a maniac. Do they think she killed Harry? For Merlin's sake, she fainted of shock when she saw him." Lavender whispered.

The three of them looked up as Malfoy entered the Great Hall in a fit of hysteric laughter. He walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. They watched him talk to the other Slytherins and soon they were all booming with laughter. They looked at the Gryffindor table and laughed even more.

Ron and Ginny looked at each other.

"I don't like the look of that." Ginny said.

Ron nodded agreeing.

"Now that-" he took a deep breath. "Now that Harry's dead they might be getting strange ideas about what they can do…"

Ginny looked at the door. "And Hermione still hasn't come back. Do you think Malfoy did something to her?"

Ron shook his head. "I don't know…"

Ginny shoved her chair back and jumped to her feet.

"Right." She said. "I'm going to go look for her."

Ron watched her walk away. He shook his head and turned to Lavender.

"I've got a nasty feeling Malfoy cornered Hermione." He said.

Lavender nodded slowly. "But Ginny's there now, Ron. And she can handle herself."

"Harry could handle himself…" Ron muttered darkly.

Lavender sighed. "But Harry was unarmed. And no on will try to hurt Hermione, _or_ Ginny for that matter, in broad daylight."

"I guess….I guess you're right." he said slowly.

He pushed his plate away, no longer feeling hungry. Lavender looked at him with a worried frown.

"You know, I think…I think you should write a letter to your mother. It's better for her to hear all of this from you. You can't let her read this in the paper on Sunday morning…and it'll do you some good too. To get it all on paper might clear it up for you too, a bit."

He pecked her cheek. "You're right. I'll go write it now."

* * *

Ginny looked around. She had no idea where Hermione had gone to. Hermione chose to hide in dark and often small spaces these days. She looked at a painting. 

"Excuse me, sir?" she asked a man with black hair politely. "Have you seen a girl with brown hair pass by?"

The man shook his head.

"Oh."

Ginny said and leaned against the wall. She was never going to find Hermione like this. She looked up as she heard a gentle cough. On the other side of the wall, she recognised a wizard in a purple hat.

"You!" she said. "You're the card player!"

He nodded gently. "Indeed. I overheard your question as I was drinking tea here, I couldn't help it. But I actually saw a girl with brown hair run into the trophy room opposite my own painting as I was on my way here."

Ginny smiled. "Thank you so much!"

She got up and started to run.

"I say!" the man called after her. "She didn't seem that happy!"

But Ginny didn't listen. She already guessed Hermione wouldn't be happy when she found her.

'Probably something that jerk Malfoy did to her.' She thought angrily.

She skidded to a halt in front of the trophy room door and paused a moment to catch her breath.

"Power? You think I care about power? You robbed me of two of the most dear people in my life, not to mention of my dignity and heart. Yours may be made of stone but mine isn't."

Ginny looked up. That was Hermione's voice. But she said things Ginny didn't understand. What was she talking about?

Ginny moved closer to the door. Her heart was beating faster. It sounded as if she was listening in on a very personal conversation, but something told her to keep listening. She wanted to understand why Hermione was saying all these things. And who she was saying them to.

"I'd rather die than ever lay eyes on you again. And I will."

Ginny clasped her hand to her mouth as she gasped.

"No!"

From inside the room came a sound of struggle. Was that Neville's voice she'd heard?

"Give me back my knife! Neville, give it back!" Hermione shrieked.

"No, I won't let you kill yourself."

"Why not!" came Hermione's desperate voice again. "I want to! I never want to see Harry die before my eyes again! All I see is his face. The way he looked at me when he knew what I was. The way he looked sorry when he knew you took Paul. He forgave me, Neville. But I can never forgive myself!"

Ginny's heart was beating in her throat.

"You did what you had to."

Neville sounded so calm, almost cold. Ginny could not believe what she was hearing. She didn't understand.

"I did what you forced me to do! I never wanted any of this! I would have died to protect you or Harry, I would not have let either of you die at the hands of Voldemort. But you were one of them and you took Paul, you hid behind him like a heartless coward. You forced me to do what you wanted, you…you made me take him up there and dressed me up in your uniform while his life was draining away. You gave me that mask, that cloak, that _scar_ on my arm, just to kill Paul anyway!"

Ginny let out a cry of anger and kicked the door open. Her wand was pointing at the two of them in a trembling hand.

"You!" she shrieked. "You killed him!"

* * *

'…Hermione didn't come to the cremation. She wasn't up to it. Dumbledore was, though, as were Ginny, Lavender, Dean and I. But I'm worried about Hermione, she seems so empty of any emotion ever since it happened. She walks around like a zombie and she fell out with Neville for no reason. She ran off during breakfast and Malfoy was laughing like a maniac, so Ginny is looking for her now. I'll see you when school is over, please don't worry too much about us. Love, Ron.' 

He stared at it and nodded slowly. The beginning of the letter was much better than the end of it, but he couldn't bring himself to changing it. He folded it and sealed it.

"Pig! Get over here."

The little owl hooted happily and circled the room. Ron jumped up but missed.

"You need to deliver a letter!" he said grouchily. But Pig was avoiding his grasps the way a dog chases after a ball, enjoying it to the fullest.

"Please Pig, you love taking letters."

He followed the little creature out the dormitory, down the stairs, round the common room, up the stairs and into the dormitory again. At least into _a_ dormitory, but not his.

To his embarrassment he found himself in the girls' dormitory. With a sort of morbid fascination he looked at the bedside tables, littered with make-up, glitter and photographs.

Clothes were everywhere and posters of pop stars covered the walls. It felt to him like he had stepped into another dimension.

Another hoot from Pig brought him back from his trance. But before making another effort at catching the owl, he looked around some more. This was his chance to look in to the lives of the girls. He could look for Hermione's diary to see what she was really thinking. If she was coping with everything, or if she was just being brave.

He slowly sat down on a bed. A photograph of Harry and Hermione was on it. This was Hermione's bed. He reached out to the bedside table slowly but then he stopped. He couldn't invade her privacy.

He stood up again and wanted to leave, but then remembered Pig.

"Pig, are you coming?"

The owl fluttered down on the open lid of Hermione's trunk. Ron sighed. He briskly walked over to the trunk, grabbed Pig and moved to turn away. But his eyes got stuck on something in the trunk.

He dropped to his knees and took a wooden mask in his hands. His eyes were opened wide with incomprehension. He threw the mask aside and rummaged around in her trunk. He found a dark, smooth cloak. He had never seen Hermione wear anything like this.

The fabric slithered through his fingers, cool as snakeskin. Suddenly his fingers came across something rough on the fabric. A silver skull embroidered on the inside of the cloak.

He stared at it.

He had seen this skull more than once. He had seen it in dark smoke spread across the sky.

He jumped to his feet. Ginny was down there, looking for Hermione. Ginny had no idea. He had to find his sister.

* * *

"You killed him! You lead him into a trap! You let him die! But you don't even care!" She shrieked. 

Hermione reached for her heart.

"Ginny….you scared me…'

"I hope so!"

Her face was red with anger. Hermione didn't understand.

"I…I don't-"

"You're a Death Eater, a traitor! I heard you two talking! And you were obviously the cause of this Paul's death as well, whoever he is! I don't believe you! We were all worried about you, about how you'd cope after Harry's death. But you worked with these bastards all along!"

"No!" Hermione shrieked. "You don't understand! I loved Harry! I really did, but they had Paul, he's-"

"I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. I've had enough."

Ginny straightened her wand arm.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville shouted.

Ginny's wand flew to the other end of the room while she was thrown against the wall. She crawled to her feet and launched herself at Hermione. She was kicking, screaming, punching everything she could reach.

Hermione tried to push her off but it was useless.

Ginny ripped Hermione's sleeve from her robe, exposing the Dark Mark on her arm.

"See." She hissed. "You're a traitor. And I'm not letting you go."

* * *

Ron ran through the corridors. He was still trying to make his head stop spinning. Hermione had hidden a mask and a cloak in her trunk. Clothing that was only given to Voldemort's closest followers. 

Hermione was a Death Eater.

Harry had died and he was certain that Hermione had killed him. She couldn't remember anything about the attack? Because there _was_ no bloody attack! She had probably stabbed him in the back herself.

He looked around. They could be anywhere.

Suddenly he heard a scream. He snapped around and followed the echoes. Around a corner, through the corridor. There! An open door.

"No!" He heard Hermione cry. "No…what have you done…Ginny…"

Ron ran on, only a little further. He stormed through the doorway and stopped dead in his tracks. His breath left his body as he gasped.

Ginny had clasped herself to Hermione's shoulders. It could have been mistaken for a friendly hug if she hadn't been coughing blood.

Neville stepped back to reveal the knife in her back.

"You killed her!" Hermione shrieked as Neville pulled the knife out.

Ginny's body fell to her knees. Hermione screamed and jumped back as Ginny fell forward. Neville turned around and tried to wipe the blood off the blade, but stopped when his eyes met Ron's.

"Ron…"

Hermione looked up. His arms were hanging limply by his side. His face was pale. Hermione felt the blood leave her face.

"Ginny…" it was more a breath than a word.

"Ron…please, listen to me…" Hermione pleaded. "I never wanted any of this to happen. I loved Harry more than you can-"

"I don't want to hear it." Ron heard himself say. "You're a Death Eater…"

His voice sounded as if he didn't believe the words himself. Neville started to laugh in the background. Hermione knew there was no chance of it ever going right again.

"Please Ron." She pleaded, her voice frail with tears. "I was forced…Neville's a Death Eater, he tricked me. I had to do what he said because they'd kill my cousin if I didn't!"

Ron's eyes had gone empty. "Neville…?"

"Yes! He's a Death Eater!"

Neville laughed again and stepped forward. He grabbed her arm and showed it to him.

"Look, Weasley. Here's your proof." His eyes gleamed with triumph.

"The Dark Mark." Ron said flatly.

Neville laughed even louder. He reached into his pockets and took out a pouch. He threw it into the flame of the candle and a purple haze slowly appeared.

"Come, princess. The Dark Lord is waiting."

Neville stepped through the haze and disappeared.

Hermione stepped away from it. "Ron…please! I never wanted to become one! They forced me! Please believe me!"

Ron dropped to his knees next to the body of his sister. He turned her on her back. Her eyes were empty. Her hair was no longer shining like it used to, or was that a trick of the light?

"Why should I believe you."

He looked up at her with a coldness in his eyes that shot through her. His voice was so full of hatred that it scared her.

"You're a Death Eater. You killed Harry. You killed Ginny. You lie and deceive, you're a _DEATH EATER_ HERMIONE!" he bellowed.

Hermione stepped back in fear. She had never seen him like this.

He reached for the knife on the floor. It still had Ginny's blood on it. He looked at it with a dazed expression.

"Run." He said coldly. "Run to your master, 'princess' Don't ever come here again, because I'll kill you."

He stared at her.

"I swear I will kill you with this knife right here!"

He held out his palm and slid the blade across, not quite knowing why he did it.He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as the blade cut through his flesh. He didn't look down as the blood dripped on the floor.

"I swear, by Ginny's blood and mine, that I will drive this knife through your body and watch you die. I will become an Auror and when I do, I will hunt you and kill you."

Hermione stepped away, tears flowing down her face. "Please…"

Ron dropped the knife and started to cry. He clasped Ginny to his chest. His hand caressed her hair as his tears fell down on her face.

Hermione cried. She had lost everything. She turned around and disappeared. There was no place for her anymore.

Ron hid his head in Ginny's shoulder and sobbed. He looked at the ceiling and let out a howl of pain.

"I'll kill you, Hermione!"

He looked at Ginny's white and empty face.

"Don't worry Ginny. I'll kill her…I'll make sure she'll pay…I'll kill her for you. I promise…"

* * *

**The End**

**

* * *

AN:** well, that was it. No happy ending, Hermione is alone for ever and Ron will hunt her. I'll tell you now that I don't plan to make a sequel, but…who knows…if I ever have an idea I might give it a shot. Because I know this ending isn't really a closure now, is it? I hope you all enjoyed it and I want to thank everyone who ever reviewed! 

**R-Krulle:** She wanted to but didn't…Neville made sure she didn't. But perhaps, if I write a sequel, we'll see what happens to her now. thank you for your reviews

**Dark Angel's Blue Fire:** I'm very flattered by your review. It's wonderful to know your story is liked. And I'm glad that Hermione seems human. Thank you for your reviews, you were there completely from the beginning. I hope the story met your expectations.:)

**Emma barrows:** You too were there right from the start. Thank you very much, your reviews were always very much appreciated :D

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** Thank you for your kind review. It's always nice to see someone understands why you did something in a story. (I'm not saying the others didn't understand, but you seem to have had the same experience with your own work) I'm glad you liked the story and I hope this ending didn't disappoint you too much. 

**Person:** Too bad you didn't log in, so now I can't thank you properly. But I am glad you liked the story.

**Lucerito-del-alma:** Stable? Good! Good good. And Hermione…no suicide. She wanted to, but she didn't want it enough. Otherwise she would have killed herself after Ron's threats and all. She was a me-based character, at some parts, yes. I'll admit that. I believe that you can only write something convincingly if it's something you know yourself and things like that. Oh, you know what I mean. Anyway, this story was all dedicated to you for being the best friend anyone could have and I hope you liked it. (If you didn't, then I'll just have to think up another plotline that suits you better :P What would you prefer Harry/Hermione or Ron/Hermione? ) Nah, I just hope you liked the ending.

So, once again, a story has reached it's end. I'm really happy with all the good reviews it got and I hope you'll keep reading my work in the future. I still have two or three HP stories I need to type, most of them HP/HG, even though I like RW/HG better myself. Somehow I end up writing something I don't really prefer :P lol.

Well, for those of you who are interested, keep an eye out for **'For Old Time's Sake'** which is a story about Hermione who ends up in the past due to a little homework accident. She's got a very deep crush on Harry, but when she meets the Marauders, there might be a bit of trouble for his soon-to-be-happily-married-together-parents. Let's just say that Lily finds it hard to like Hermione at some times.

So thank you all for reviewing Ashes to Ashes, I hope to see you at some of my other work.

**Raven55**


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